Mermaids of Trafalgar
by TwilightSparkle3562
Summary: When their kingdom is threatened by the French and Spanish Navies, Ariel and Eric join forces with Admiral Horatio Nelson and the English Royal Navy in an effort to defend their kingdom. Meanwhile, King Triton is persuaded to join the fight as he seeks to hunt and destroy the ship that killed Queen Athena, his wife and Ariel's mother.
1. Memories of My Mother

Disclaimer: I do not own "The Little Mermaid," or its characters. They are property of Hans Christian Andersen and the Walt Disney Company.

"Mermaids of Trafalgar"

By TwilightSparkle3562

Chapter 1

"Memories of My Mother"

Ariel, Queen of Demark and daughter of King Triton of Atlantica, stood on a balcony outside of the quarters she shared with her husband, King Eric, as the high wall she had ordered to protect her daughter, Princess Melody from Morgana, sister of Ursula came down. It had only been a few days since Morgana was defeated and a sense of relief had come over the kingdom. Ariel could only think of the future of her kingdom, her family and what was to come. She was only 28 years old after all and had her whole life ahead of her.

In a period of 12 years, Ariel had fulfilled her dream of living as a human after 16 years of living under the sea as a mermaid and had given birth to a daughter to call her own. But, little did her daughter realize of the pain and torment Ariel had kept inside of her.

"Mom, is everything all right?" asked Melody as she came up to her mother's quarters, knocking on the door. "You've been up hear for a long time."

"Um, I'm sorry, Melody," said Ariel, sheepishly. "You can come in if you want to."

So, Melody walked towards her mother and stood next to her as the deconstruction of the wall continued before their eyes. For Melody, seeing the wall come down was a relief to see now that Morgana was defeated.

"It's great to see the wall come down?" remarked Melody. "Now, we can be free to do whatever we want, won't we, mom?"

"Yes, it was wrong of me to keep you from the sea," sighed Ariel, as a gust of wind blew at the queen and princess of Denmark. "I'm your mother, Melody and I will sometimes overreact because of it."

Melody could take notice of the pain in her mother's voice and decided at that moment to ask Ariel what was on her mind.

"Mom, is everything all right?" asked Melody. "You sound kind of down. I mean, Morgana is beaten and everything is back to normal."

Knowing that Melody wanted to know the truth behind her sorrow, Ariel sighed once again and turned to her daughter.

"Melody," replied Ariel, as they stepped back into Ariel and Eric's quarters. "There is something that I should have told you a long time ago. It is about your grandmother."

"My grandmother?" gasped Melody, shocked that she had a grandmother. "What about her? Why didn't you tell me, mom?"

"Sweetie, it was a matter that I didn't want to talk about in front of you," replied Ariel, as they sat down on the bed. "The anniversary of her death is in a few days and you may see me feel slightly sad at times. She was a lovely person like us and had always cared for the merpeople of Atlantica. Most of all, she cared about me and all your aunts as well as your grandfather."

Melody was surprised to hear that her mother was telling her about this now. But for Ariel, she could still remember how her mother died, being run over by a pirate ship. This incident further fueled her father's hatred for humans and thus, made her transition and desire to become human much more difficult.

"Is that why grandfather so hateful towards people like me?" asked Melody, sadly, surprising Ariel greatly.

"Absolutely not, Melody," replied Ariel, surprisingly. "He loves you for who you are and as long as he is your grandfather, he will love you as you are. What happened to your grandmother was a matter that has haunted us for many years."

Just then, a knock at the door was heard and the mother and daughter looked to see Eric standing in the doorway.

"Dinner's getting cold, you two," he said. "Better get downstairs."

"We'll be down in two minutes," replied Ariel, walking over to him. "Melody and I just needed some time alone, that's all. You know, with my mother's death and all."

"We will get through this together, Ariel," said Eric, trying to console his wife and queen. "We all will, won't we, Melody?"

"Yes, we will dad," replied Melody and they all made their way down to the dining hall where Grimsby, Eric's manservant, was waiting for them.

Meanwhile, down in the kingdom of Atlantica, King Triton sat on his throne looking down a locket that he had kept for so many years following his wife's death. As Ariel had said, there was a sadness that had haunted them all for so many years. Triton could remember the agony of seeing his wife's corpse fall from the surface after she had been struck by the ship.

"Oh, Athena," he sighed at the locket. "Why couldn't you just leave the music box where it was? You could still be alive and with us. If only I could bring you back to life, but I can't."

A sudden rage of anger came up Triton's mind at that moment when he began to think of the ship that had struck his wife. He could remember seeing the bow with his wife's blood on it and for many years, he wanted to hunt that ship down and destroy it with his trident.

"But, I promise you," he said to himself, grabbing the gold trident. "I will continue to not rest until the ship that has taken you from me is found and destroyed. All aboard that ship will die and when their blood flows in the waters of the surface, only then will my avenge for you will be completed."

To prove that he wasn't going to take this sitting back, Triton thrusted his trident into the air and fired several blasts from the points of his main weapon. The blasts could be seen from Ariel and Eric's kingdom and seen from two guards.

"What do you think that Triton is doing, Hans?" asked the first guard.

"He must be trying out his power," replied the second guard, who was clearly not interested in the display that Triton was displaying out of the water.

Little did everyone know of the episode that was about to play before their eyes…


	2. Wedding Ship Attack

Chapter 2

"Wedding Ship Attack"

As the Royal family of Denmark sat down for dinner that evening, the memories of Queen Athena were still fresh on everyone's mind. Although neither Melody nor Eric never knew nor met Ariel's mother, they knew how tough it was for her. Ariel was feeling a lot more quiet than usual at the dinner table and it took notice of her husband and daughter.

"Ariel, you're a lot more quiet than usual," remarked Eric. "I know its tough to remember your mother, but you can't let it get you down."

"Indeed," added Eric's manservant, Grimsby. "You are a ruler of this great country and your subjects cannot see you in this kind of grief. What example will that send?"

Ariel said nothing and instead ate her plate of food that sat before her. Melody was very worried about her mother and wanted to try and help her in any way, but she didn't know how.

In fact, the young princess of Denmark was just about to say something when the doors of the dining hall burst wide open. A young soldier ran into the dining room with a look of panic on his face.

"I say, young man!" cried Grimsby, standing up firmly at the soldier. "Would you mind not running into the dining hall?!"

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, your highnesses," he said, trying to catch his breath. "But, there has been an attack on a wedding ship not far from here."

The whole dining room fell silent upon hearing this. In Eric's mind, he thought that pirates were behind this attack and he had every reason to believe that they were stepping up their attacks in order to get the attention of Denmark.

"When did this happen?" demanded Eric, his voice filled with concern. "Is anyone alive?"

"I'm not sure, your majesties," replied the soldier. "But, it happen not far off shore."

The family then saw the soldier collapse with exhaustion as several servants dragged him away. Eric then darted out of the dining room and left both Ariel and Melody with blank expressions on their faces.

"What happened?" remarked Melody. "This isn't unlike anything dad has dealt with before."

"We'd better find out what's happening," said Ariel and they made their way out of the dining room, leaving Grimsby alone.

Racing up to the top of one of the towers, Eric grabbed a telescope and looked out to the source of the emergency. He could see that a wedding ship was out in the distance, burning with flames.

"We are already preparing a group of men to head over to the wedding ship, your highness," said a lieutenant. "Shall we look for survivors?"

"Yes, go at once," ordered Eric and the lieutenant saluted his superior and left. "This looks like no other pirate attack."

Eric watched through the telescope as several lifeboats rowed over to the scene of destruction. In his mind, he could see that this was no ordinary attack. If it were a pirate attack, the pirates would have made off with valuables of those on board and left the ship alone. This was something that was completely different.

"Dad, what's happening?" cried Melody as she and Ariel ran up to the balcony where Eric was. Both Queen and Princess gasped in horror at what Eric was seeing and the sounds of screams and cries for help pierced the peaceful sunset over the Baltic Sea.

"Eric, can we help in anyway?" asked Ariel and the king of Denmark was silent for a moment before turning to face his wife and daughter.

"Melody, tell the servants to prepare for any survivors," ordered Eric and Melody ran off to do as she was told.

Just then, the two rulers saw what appeared to be a lifeboat carrying a woman dressed in white. Almost immediately, both Ariel and Eric could see that the person who was just saved was the bride and they ran down to meet the lifeboat at the docks. Once the boat had pulled up to shore, the Danish soldiers pulled out a young woman, dressed in a long white wedding gown with ruffles covering the front of it and a split skirt. A long white veil adorned her head and her long brown hair was wet with ocean water.

"Get her inside," barked Eric, his voice filled with worry. "Do whatever you can to help her survive!"

A few moments later, several more survivors were brought to shore and helped into the castle. Many of them were injured beyond belief and the extent of the injuries ran from minor to life threatening.

Meanwhile, the rescued bride was helped into one of the guestrooms which had been turned into a hospital. The weight of her wedding gown had made it difficult for the men to carry her into the guestroom, but they eventually made it, laying her down on the bed.

"Give me some scissors!" ordered the doctor and being handed some scissors, began to cut off the bride's ruined and wet wedding gown. Several more servants also came in and began cutting from the bottom and the sides. It had taken several minutes to cut off the gown, but they succeeded and left the bride in just her vanilla underdress.

"All right," said another doctor. "I'm checking for injuries. You try to get her breathing again."

"Yes, doctor," said yet another doctor. "I will do that right now. Nurse, get me some warm blankets."

At that moment, Ariel and Eric came into the guestroom and looked at the scene of horror that was happening before their eyes. Just then, they heard a loud gasp from the bride, who began coughing up sea water. This was a good sign for them as they wanted people to be alive so they could give them a firsthand account.

"Who could have done this, Eric?" gasped Ariel, as an old man was brought in on a stretcher.

"I don't know, Ariel," sighed Eric, as more and more survivors were brought into various rooms within the castle. "But if it's not pirates, then who could have done such a thing?"

That was the question that ran through their minds as they watched the makeshift hospital come to life…


	3. Talking to the Bride

Chapter 3

"Talking to the Bride"

For the rest of the night following the attack on the wedding ship, anyone who survived the attack was brought into the castle and treated for their injuries. Fortunately, there were more survivors than casualties, but Ariel and Eric had one person that they needed to talk to and they waited until the activity quieted down.

"You don't think your father is responsible for this?" Eric asked Ariel. "I mean, he does have a hatred for people?"

Ariel refused to believe that Triton still had that grudge against humans. She was married to Eric after all and had given him a granddaughter. That was an issue that was put to rest and buried deep after Ursula was killed.

"Eric, he respects humans now," replied Ariel, bitterly. "How else do you think we would have been married for so long if he still had his grudge? Something else attacked that ship and we need to find out the truth."

Just then, the door of the quarters where the rescued bride was opened and one of the servants came out with a cold, wet cloth in her hands.

"She looks to be resting comfortably your highnesses," she said. "I don't know if she wants to talk, but you can try.

"Thank you, Carlotta," replied Ariel, smiling warmly as they walked into the bride's quarters. "You can go to bed now. We'll see you in the morning."

The two monarchs quietly approached the bed and sat down next to her, looking down at the sleeping bride, clad in a freshly dry nightgown that used to belong to Ariel when she was on her three day limit as a human. Ariel grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly, thinking of when she rescued Eric from drowning. Just then, the bride's eyes squenched and then opened up, while moaning slightly before looking over at Ariel and Eric.

"Where am I?" she asked weakly, trying to move. "How did I…?"

"You are safe here," said Ariel, warmly. "You are in our castle and you will be looked after until you are well."

The bride closed her eyes for a moment and it took a moment for her thoughts to be gathered. At one moment, she had been on a wedding ship preparing to whoever she was supposed to be married and the next minute she was in the water and was now in the shelter of her country's monarchs.

"Am I in the presence of King Eric and Queen Ariel?" she asked again.

"You are," replied Eric.

Realizing where she was now, the bride struggled to get herself up, but she was too weak from being the water for a long time and she also had injuries sustained in the attack. Grateful to be in safe hands, the bride's eyes filled up with tears.

"Thank you for saving me," she cried, trying to wipe away tears with her hands. "I don't know how long I'll live with the injuries I had sustained. Do you ever have moments where your dreams are shattered in an instant?"

"We all have those moments," said Ariel, walking over and grabbing a glass of water for the bride to drink. "I can't imagine the scars you bear from what happened today on the wedding ship."

"You have no idea, your highnesses," groaned the bride. "I don't know how many members of my family are either dead or alive. They are probably mostly dead by now."

"Don't think that way," insisted Ariel, placing the glass at the bride's bedside. "You have to have hope in times like this."

The bride took the glass and drank the water that was given to her before placing it back down on the nightstand. Just then, she was now starting to get back to normal and was now ready to answer any questions Ariel and Eric wanted to ask her.

"I know," sighed the bride. "But, I don't know how it could happen this way. We were just about to say our vows when we suddenly heard a loud noise and the next thing we know, we tilted to the side and people started falling into the water."

"Titled to the side?" asked Eric, his voice a little authoritive. "Was the sound you heard the sound of a cannon be fired? If it is, what flag was the ship bearing?"

"Eric, please!" cried Ariel, giving her husband a stern look. "She's been through enough as it is. Go easy on her."

Eric realized his error and calmed down, but he was the ruler of an entire country and he had to ask these kinds of questions.

"I'm sorry, my lady," he said, embarrassingly. "Forgive me, but I usually get wound up in these kinds of situations."

"That's all right," replied the bride. "It's how my love was always going to be. He is an officer in the Danish army, you know."

Under Ariel's watchful eye, Eric took in a deep breath and calmly began his questioning again. Eric somehow knew that he wasn't going to get anywhere with this kind of interrogation that he was pulling.

"All right," sighed Eric. "Now, would please tell me what happened on the ship?"

"Well," began the bride. "My fiancé and I had just walked down the aisle and the priest was performing the ceremony without any hesitation. Just then, we suddenly hear a loud noise and the next thing you know, we were thrust into the water and I hear the sounds of shouting from the ship that attacked us."

As she spoke, Eric wrote down what the bride was saying and continued to listen in as she spoke of what had happened.

"When you say shouting," he asked. "What exactly were they saying?"

"They were talking in a foreign language," replied the bride. "After the attack on the ship, I remember them coming over to us and a lifeboat was lowered into the water. Those who had survived were pulled onto the boat and those who were dying were shot."

The bride began to get choked up upon remembering the horrors she had to endure. But, she had to tell her king the truth.

"Was this an act of impressing?" asked Eric. "Were they forced into service against their will?"

"I don't know," answered the bride. "But they had on blue uniforms and spoke in a French accent. They must have seen me and intended to take me as a trophy, so I played dead until they were gone."

The bride then began to sob quietly as Ariel attempted to console her. Eric could only imagine that this was the act of the French navy. For some time, Denmark had stayed out of the Napoleonic Wars, but he couldn't stay out any longer.

"What about…what about my fiancé?" asked the bride. "Is he here or…?"

But, Eric could only shake his head and this caused the bride to break down sobbing into Ariel's chest.

"He must be alive, Eric," said Ariel. "Who knows how many of this poor girl's friends and family are in the French navy?"

"I don't know, Ariel," sighed Eric. "But, we are not going to sit back any longer. In the morning, we declare war on France."

His mind made up, Eric got up and went out to sign the papers that would declare war on France. However, Ariel had to persuade her husband that this was a private matter that needed to be a part of. They weren't going to go in this alone and she would make sure that it was known to Eric…


	4. Declaration of War

Chapter 4

"Declaration of War"

Upon knowing of what attacked the wedding ship off the coast of his kingdom, Eric immediately drew up a declaration of war against France for the cowardly act against his country. Seeing the injured bride recount the horrors aboard the wedding ship was enough for him to take action. It was his subjects, his people, his friends who were aboard the ship that was attacked.

"Send this to Paris," he ordered a palace guard. "Tell them if Napoleon wants us to get into this campaign of his, then they will get what they want."

"At once, your highness," replied the guard, bowing to Eric before stepping out to carry out his mission.

At that moment, Ariel came downstairs with Melody following behind. The princess of Denmark had been woken up by the loud cries from the bride and wanted to find out what was happening, but Ariel had one of the servants send her back to her room, much to her displeasure.

"Eric, are you sure that want to do this?" asked Ariel, who was not sure if this was a good idea. "I don't want us to sacrifice any more lives for something like this."

"Ariel, the French have gone too far," replied Eric firmly. "For most of our marriage, they have been conquering much of Europe and I fear that they are going to attack our kingdom if we don't act."

Ariel could well remember her father's hatred for humans and as Eric spoke of his intentions, she could see Triton in her husband when he learned of humans attacking her fellow merpeople.

"Then why don't we just talk to this 'Napoleon' and convince him to leave us alone?" suggested Ariel, who was completely naïve to how the human world, even after living as a human for 12 years. "It is what my father would have done in other kingdoms."

Eric ignored his wife's suggestion and instead motioned for several of his generals to meet him in another room for a secret meeting. Once the order was given, Eric sighed heavily and closed his eyes in disgust.

"Ariel, you just don't understand about what happens in the world around you," sighed Eric, sitting back down in his chair in disgust. "Not every problem can be solved in our world with words. Sometimes, countries have to declare war on one another to get their points across. If we do nothing, we risk of having our country, our home being lost to these barbarians."

Ariel felt like at that moment to blow up in front of her husband and let him know what she thought of this whole thing. But, Ariel could remember how her father would react to her outbursts and she could well remember how an outburst led to her collection of human treasures be destroyed in Triton's rage, including a statue of Eric that was his birthday present after all.

In fact, the word "barbarians," bounced off in her mind like a ping pong ball. That was the word Triton used to describe humans.

"Eric, I…I don't know what to say to you," groaned Ariel, pacing back and forth throughout the bedroom. "Deep down, I want to say to you that this isn't a good idea, but I know that I would not win."

This caused Eric's eyes to open wide with surprise. In the 12 years he had been married to Ariel, he had never gotten into this level of tension with her and for Ariel to suddenly break out of it was very surprising to him indeed.

"Win what?" asked Eric, his mood changing from stern to somewhat confused and baffled. "What are you talking about?"

"A fight," replied Ariel, meekly. "I know how fights are and I know that I can never win a fight. They never solve anything anyway. Besides, it's my duty as a queen to protect her people. Daddy always taught me that a ruler must set an example."

Ariel took in a heavy sigh and slowly walked over towards a window that was overlooking the ocean. She then looked down at the beach and saw many of the servants and doctors laying down caskets containing bodies of those from the wedding ship down on the sand.

"Eric, what is it they are doing down there?" she asked and Eric got up from his desk to investigate what Ariel was trying to tell him. "What with the boxes?"

"Those are the caskets of those who have died, Ariel," replied Eric. "A few people died after sunset tonight. Their blood is on the hands of Napoleon and those barbaric ships of his. I will have the caskets returned to the families at once."

Ariel watched her husband leave the room and could only focus on the caskets that were laid by the beach. In her mind, Ariel began to realize of the severity of the situation she had found herself in. A thought crossed her mind of seeing her kind in this situation. In her young life, Ariel had seen merpeople die in unfortunate accidents or circumstances.

"What if Eric was right?" she thought to herself. "Maybe it would be best if we did get into this fight. What if it's not just our kingdom that is being targeted, but Atlantica as well? I can't bear to think of what would happen if Atlantica was attacked."

At that moment, Ariel stepped back from the window and looked down at a piece of paper that Eric was starting to write. At the top, the words "Battle plans for confrontation with France," were written. A sudden surge of energy raced through her mind, a surge that had begun to inspire her to join this fight that she now found herself in.

Meanwhile, Ariel suddenly heard a sound and dashed out of the office to find the injured bride from the wedding ship standing out at a window. She could see that the bride was struggling to stand up and Ariel ran up to the bride's quarters to check on her.

"Why are you out of bed?" cried Ariel as the bride struggled to walk back to the bed. "Don't you realize you are badly hurt?"

"I had to, your highness," replied the bride. "I was praying to God for my fiance's safe return. Don't you pray to God?"

Ariel was dumbstruck in how to respond to the bride's question. She had never heard of God, since she had never been properly educated in the Catholic faith that she was married into when she married Eric.

"Um, this may sound strange," said Ariel, sheepishly. "But, I don't know who God is. You see, I was never…"

"Anyone can pray to God," said the bride. "I've been praying to him ever since I was a little girl. He answers all that you ask of him if you would only believe in him."

Ariel was somewhat dumbfounded by this and began to question the bride's intentions. However, she could see how happy the bride was and the relief that she had inside of her.

"If I ask God anything, then he will listen to me?" asked Ariel, getting down onto her knees. "If I get down like this?"

"Yes, if you pray, he will listen," replied the bride. "He tells me tonight, 'Vanessa, your husband will come to you in due time. Those who hold him of his freedom will fall at the right hand of God.'"

"Is that your name?" gasped Ariel, who rose to her feet, now knowing the name of the person that had been rescued.

"Yes, I am Vanessa, the bride whose husband is being held captive," replied the bride, smiling warmly at Ariel. "By the way, what happened to my wedding dress?"

Ariel's face turned pale upon hearing those words, remembering that it had to be cut away because it was wet and the doctors needed to tend to her.

"The doctors had to cut it off of you when you were brought here," sighed Ariel, sadly. "I'm sorry. If we rescue your husband, you can wear my wedding dress that I wore when I married King Eric."

Grateful to hear this, Vanessa nodded warmly as Ariel stepped out of the room, bidding her good night, unaware of the future that was about to happen…


	5. A Talk Among Daughters

Chapter 5

"A Talk among Daughters"

In the days that followed Eric's declaration of war against France for the cowardly act against the wedding ship, many of Denmark's finest men were recruited into the Danish Navy. However, the actions of King Eric were causing a great deal of concern among his inner peers, including his wife, Queen Ariel. For she knew that if they were to deal with this conflict on an inner level, she had to find a way to convince him not to go in this alone.

"Eric, its probably for the best," she said as he walked into the conference hall. "I mean, daddy would be thinking the same thing if I was talking to him."

"As far as I am concerned," replied Eric, turning around to face Ariel. "I think you need to understand how the world works. Not every conflict in the world can be solved with words and I know it. Denmark will go in alone and Denmark will win."

Ariel was dumbfounded to hear her husband talking in this manner and could only watch as Eric slammed the door to the conference hall where he and several of his high ranking military officials began to discuss how to address their present situation.

At that moment, Vanessa, the rescued bride, came downstairs wearing one of Ariel's casual dresses.

"What's happening, your highness?" she asked. "Are they thinking of a way to save my fiancé and all those who were captured?"

"I don't know, Vanessa," answered Ariel. "Eric wants to go against the French alone, but I don't believe he should. You see, where I come from, we don't get into war until we are justly provoked."

Ariel didn't want to reveal to Vanessa the fact that she was once a mermaid, thinking that it would be stupid for her to hear such a story.

"Where did you come from?" asked Vanessa. "Did you come from another country?"

Ariel thought for a second on whether she should answer the girl's question. But, she had been married for 12 years and decided that she couldn't keep it a secret for very long.

"No, Vanessa," replied Ariel, sitting down in a chair. "I actually was once known as a mermaid and my father was King Triton."

Vanessa was amazed by this confession from Ariel, shocked that the Queen of Denmark was once one of the undersea people that she had heard for so many years. Up until that moment, she had thought of mermaids and mermen as legends, fairy tales for children.

"You were once a mermaid?" she remarked. "Do you think that maybe your father can help me get my fiancé back?"

But, Ariel could only shake her head in vain, remembering her father's hatred for humans. Even though Triton had mellowed on his hatred for humans, he only still trusted Eric, even after all was said and done.

"I don't know if I could get him to listen," sighed Ariel. "My father has a passionate hatred for humans. It started after my mother was killed by a ship when my sisters and I were younger."

"I'm sorry to hear that, your majesty," said Vanessa, sitting next to Ariel and holding her hand. "I lost my own mother under mysterious circumstances. She was returning from church and was hit by a horse-drawn carriage, being dragged for a few miles before dying of her wounds."

Ariel thought that Vanessa would start crying over this or showing some kind of emotion, but she didn't.

"Did it make you sad?"

"No," replied Vanessa, showing Ariel a small smile. "Because after my mother died, the master came down with her at his side. My mother told me that she was out of harm's way and that she would always be with me as long as I believed in the master and all his works. Ever since then, my faith has helped me get through the troubled times."

Although she was never brought up in the Catholic faith, Ariel could seemingly understand the value that Vanessa was trying to get across to her. She could see that Vanessa believed in the fact that all evil will be defeated and that good would prevail. It instantly brought Ariel back to that moment the night before when she saw her praying at the bedroom window.

"However," continued Vanessa, rubbing her hand on Ariel's back. "People who are evil will claim to have God on their side, too. People who say that are only sugarcoating their true feelings for God and those people who say that are holding my fiancé hostage."

Meanwhile, as the rescued bride and the Queen of Denmark continued their conversation, Eric was in the conference room talking with his military advisors. It seemed from the way things were going, Eric was not going to get his wish of going after the French alone.

"They have support from Spain," said a military advisor. "It's very possible that they could join with the French fleet and launch a full scale attack on our country."

"Don't we have the proper defenses?" cried Eric, pacing back and forth around the room. "I thought Denmark has a suitable defense against our enemy lands."

"From the way you are talking sire," said another military general. "You make it sound we are like our ally, Great Britain, which we are not. We need help fighting this enemy and they have had the same problem as us when it comes to the French. If we don't join forces with Great Britain, then we will find ourselves at the mercy of two combined fleets."

Eric sat back down at his desk and lowered his head down in thought. He was never really someone that would drag another country in because of a personal attack on his own country. But, this was different and everyone in the room knew it. It was also at that moment he knew that this was the first real conflict that he had ever been involved in. Yes, he did have military training when he was younger, but Eric had forgotten most of it and instead focused on life on the sea and his marriage with Ariel.

"Very well then," he sighed, resigning himself to this task. "We will have to ask Great Britain for help in dealing with the French."

"With all due respect, your majesty," said a general. "Aligning ourselves with the Royal Navy will give us a sense of advantage with stopping the French and rescuing those they had captured. I just hope God can call on a man that can help us fight this enemy and rescue our countrymen."

All the men sat in their seats and thought of a strong and dedicated Royal Navy admiral that could help them fight this enemy. For all they knew was that they didn't know of anyone who could be a good ally to them. After a moment, Grimsby had an idea.

"If you gentlemen don't mind if I say something," he said, breaking the long silence. "I propose that we contact his grace, Admiral Horatio Nelson."

All the men stared at Grimsby as soon as that name was heard…


	6. Admiral Horatio Nelson

Chapter 6

"Admiral Horatio Nelson"

In the days following Eric's declaration of war against France, news of his declaration reached all over Europe. Many were stunned and surprised that the forgotten country of Europe would declare war on such a powerful country like the French Empire, ruled by Napoleon, who sought to conquer all of Europe and name himself supreme dictator, putting all the other rulers at his mercy. But, there was one man who was admired by Eric's declaration and he was aboard his ship HMS Victory in the Baltic Sea.

"Hmm," he said, reading a newspaper with Eric's picture on the cover while drinking English tea. "It appears that his highness, King Eric of Denmark, would dare challenge the great thief of Europe over an attacked ship. He is braver than I thought he would be."

The British Admiral tossed the newspaper on the floor and looked back up at a picture that hung on his quarters. It was a picture of himself when he became admiral and was declared as one by his majesty, King George III.

"Much braver than when I became Admiral of this fleet," he remarked as a knock was heard at the door. "Come in, Sir Percy."

A young man in a British uniform came in and saluted his superior as he walked in.

"Now then," said the Admiral. "What seems to be the trouble?"

"It's your son, Admiral Nelson," replied Sir Percy. "He seems to be slacking in his duties and I believe that…"

"My dear Sir Percy," laughed Nelson, thinking that this was a joke. "He is just a young man. Some don't learn faster than others. It's not every day that an Admiral's son joins the ranks of others in this fleet."

But in reality, Admiral Nelson's son, John, was nothing more than an idealist. He only joined the Royal Navy to fight for his king and inspire his father, who was the most famous seaman in the British Empire. But, at the same time, he wanted to be the one to impress the woman of England and her colonies so that he could have a woman to fall in love with.

"If he doesn't improve, your lordship," said Sir Percy, looking at John through a window in Admiral Nelson's quarters. "I suggest we send him back to England where he belongs."

"He stays here," grunted Admiral Nelson. "It's rather unfortunate that I have men who don't get along with fellow sailors. When I say that England expects every man to do their duty, I mean it. John will get his chance to do his duty when we face the enemy."

All Sir Percy could do was sigh and roll his eyes, much to Admiral Nelson's annoyance. When he caught note of his superior's displeasure, Sir Percy laughed nervously and saluted him.

"I'm sorry, your grace," chuckled Sir Percy, stepping towards the door. "My mind was off, that's all."

"I can see why," replied Admiral Nelson, tapping his fingers on the desk. "Now, get back to work before I make you walk the plank, understand?"

"Yes, your grace," said Sir Percy, saluting Admiral Nelson once again before stepping out of his quarters.

Admiral Nelson sighed heavily and looked out at his son slacking off on his duties. Although Admiral Nelson was impressed with his son following in his duties, he was disappointed at the fact that John was never going to reach his level. Slacking off a little bit is one thing, but there was much more to being a soldier than just impressing the women of the British Empire.

"Oh, John," thought Admiral Nelson as he watched his son. "If there was a way to make you a man and a soldier of Britain. I've looked upon much younger men like you who have slacked themselves because they put their own interests ahead of the interests of their country. We have been hunting down a French Fleet that is looking to conquer the waters of Europe and the only one that is stopping them is us, his majesty's fleet."

John then noticed his father looking at him and quickly pulled himself together in getting his duties done. It was then that Admiral Nelson got an idea, he had been given an invitation to come to Eric and Ariel's kingdom to meet them and the Danish military officials. If he could get his son to meet Princess Melody, then he would inspire his son to understand that he could fight for someone who would love him in return.

"Your lordship," called an officer, walking into his office. "We are nearing the kingdom of Denmark. When do we start preparing for arrival?"

Admiral Nelson then looked at the piece of paper that was given to him. He knew that this was a double mission that he was going to undertake, for his family and his country.

"We prepare at once," replied Admiral Nelson. "The other ships will be arriving soon. It's time to introduce ourselves to the people of Denmark and help them rescue those taken captive by our French foes."

"At once, your lordship," said the officer, saluting Nelson before shutting the door.

Meanwhile, in the kingdom of Atlantica, Triton was overseeing a group of Mermen soldiers armed with swords and dressed in gold armor. The locket bearing his wife's picture was clutched in his hands as he looked down at the soldiers.

"My beloved warriors," he began, sitting from his throne. "For many years, I have sought to find the ship that killed my wife, Queen Athena, and have failed to find it. But now, I have seen the ship that bears her blood on its bow. You will find that ship and destroy it, along with all the humans that man the ship. And if you find any human that survives, you will kill them on the spot. I want their blood to flow the same way as my wife's when they killed her."

The sounds of Triton's cries of anger were heard throughout Atlantica and many of his subjects coiled in his wrath. They had never seen their king this furious and it showed.

"His majesty is going off the deep end," cried Sebastian, Triton's major domo who was a crab. "Jeez, man."

The cries of war would continue to be heard throughout the rest of the night. But Triton would eventually realize that he would need help seeking the ship that took his wife away from him and that help would come from humans that would soon ally themselves with King Eric and Queen Ariel…


	7. Arriving in Denmark

Chapter 7

"Arriving in Denmark"

It was early the next morning that the Royal Navy arrived at the castle of King Eric and Queen Ariel of Denmark. Only the top ships of the fleet advanced towards the castle while the rest of the fleet stayed nearby to search for any signs of the French or Spanish Navies. Although many of them were out of Danish waters, there was still no sign of them in any direction.

Meanwhile, Ariel and Eric sat on their thrones while Melody stood next to her mother. Both Melody and Ariel were wearing the same gowns they wore for Melody's 12th birthday party recently, a party that ended up in disaster. After a few minutes, the trumpets sounded and Grimsby stood at the door to announce Admiral Nelson's arrival.

"May I present," he announced to the royals of Denmark. "His lordship and excellency, Admiral Horatio Nelson of the British Empire's Royal Navy and his delegation."

With the announcement made, Admiral Nelson and his officers and other ranks walked into the throne room and bowed to Eric, Ariel and Melody out of respect. Eric rose to his feet and approached the admiral with a warm smile on his face.

"Welcome to Denmark, Admiral Nelson," he said, bowing to the famous admiral. "We are glad that you have come in our moment of need."

"Always a pleasure to help a fellow ruler, your highness," replied Admiral Nelson, warmly. "We've been after the people that attacked your wedding ship for months."

"I would like to introduce you to my wife, Queen Ariel and our daughter, Princess Melody," continued Eric, showing Admiral Nelson and his guests to the Queen and Princess of Denmark, who curtsied to them.

It was at that moment that Admiral Nelson's son, John, became smitten with Melody. In his mind, Melody was the most beautiful creature he had ever come across.

"She's so beautiful," he whispered to himself, admiring the Princess of Denmark in her pink gown. "I will make her mine eventually."

Unfortunately for John, his father had overheard his whispers and gave him a stern "ahem," to get his mind off of Melody. This caused John to behave himself on the spot.

"Uh, yes," stuttered Admiral Nelson, who was trying to shake the embarrassment of his son's behavior out of his head. "I believe that there are some matters we need to discuss about finding the people responsible for this attack."

"Shall we go to the conference hall?" suggested Eric, who then got a throat clearing from Ariel, who motioned for him to present a gift that they wanted to give Admiral Nelson. "But, my wife and I wish to give you a gift from the people of Denmark."

Eric then motioned to Grimsby who clapped his hands and two servants came forward and presented Admiral Nelson with the statue of a gold hawk destroying a sea serpent. Admiral Nelson admired the gift for a moment before turning back towards the royals.

"Thank you for your generous gift," he said. "The people of the British Empire and our king are greatly appreciated."

Admiral Nelson then motioned for two of his own servants who held two bouquets of roses for Ariel and Melody. It was then that Nelson had an idea for his son to get to Melody.

"John," he whispered, motioning him to listen. "If you love the Princess so much, why don't you be the one to present her with our gift to her and her mother?"

John was beginning to regret saying what he initially said and suddenly began to feel nervous as the servant handed him the roses to give to Melody. At his father's insistence, he walked up to Melody and began to sweat nervously as he approached the princess.

"Are you all right?" asked Melody, cautiously. "You look nervous."

Admiral Nelson could only get a small chuckle of the predicament his son was in. He wanted to see if his son would be able to find a girl to fight for and it seemed that he had found it.

"I'm, uh, I'm all right your highness," laughed John, nervously. "I just have never seen anyone so beautiful in my life."

Melody was somewhat delighted, yet embarrassed to hear such a compliment. This was of course, the first time she had ever heard such a compliment from any boy her age. Even Ariel and Eric were stunned to hear this.

"He must really like her," thought Ariel, who watched happily at this meeting, but wished for another important person in her life to witness this. "It's too bad Daddy is not here to see this."

"Perhaps we should leave them alone," whispered Eric, who wanted to get to the conference room. "Come, let us discuss what we need to do to confront the French and Spanish."

Admiral Nelson could only chuckle quietly as he watched Melody and John walk out of the throne room. For he knew that his plan to make his son a dedicated and proper soldier of the British Empire had only just begun.

Meanwhile, while the talks were being held and Melody getting to know a possible beau, Ariel walked out to the beach and looked out over the ocean with the rest of the Royal Navy ships out on the horizon, thinking of her father and her family at the bottom of the sea.

"It's too bad that you are not here to see all of this, daddy," she sighed as the wind blew at her neatly up done hair. "Melody has a boy who has fallen in love with her. I just don't want to make the same mistake you made with me."

It was clear to Ariel that seeing Melody and John together brought back painful memories of how she tried to fall in love with Eric and her father forbade it. As a result of her confession, Triton lost control of his emotions and destroyed her collection of human treasures. This was an act that Triton would come to regret greatly to this very day.

With the sound of another gust of wind, Ariel realized at that moment that they had a dinner to prepare for their esteemed guests. So, she walked back inside and resumed her duties as Queen of Denmark as the dark clouds of evil continued to gather over Europe and their shadows were beginning to fall on Eric and Ariel's kingdom itself…


	8. Queen Ariel's Ball

Chapter 8

"Queen Ariel's Ball"

As the day passed, Eric and Admiral Nelson continued to draw up their plans to confront the French and Spanish fleets and rescue the people kidnapped from the wedding ship. Even Vanessa was still planning to have her husband rescued and kept asking God for his help. When she prepared for the ball in honor of Admiral Nelson and the Royal Navy, Vanessa had a small crucifix on her neck that showed that she was connected to her husband.

"It's almost time for the ball," said Ariel as she entered Vanessa's chambers that night. "I guess my pink dress really suits you, Vanessa."

Vanessa had been given Ariel's pink dress that she wore at her first dinner at Eric's castle. Seeing her wear it brought back memories of that memorable night many years ago and caused Ariel to have a bought of nostalgia.

"Thank you, your highness," replied Vanessa, who finished putting her face on. "I have to look my best for the men who will try and rescue my fiancé."

Vanessa then got up and slid her stockinged feet into a pair of white high heels, completing her dressing.

"Just enjoy yourself tonight, Vanessa," chuckled Ariel. "Even as I speak, Eric and Admiral Nelson have been coming up with a strategy all afternoon that I assure you will bring your fiancé back."

"I hope so," replied Vanessa. "As I live and die, I hope so."

Just then, the trumpets sounded and Ariel and Vanessa made their way down to the ballroom where all of the Danish court were gathered to honor the English visitors. Melody was also there with John as her escort. At the insistence of his father, John was assigned to be Melody's escort for this occasion.

"You know, Princess," he said. "My father thinks that I am in love with you and he wanted me to…"

"Don't worry about it," chuckled Melody, quietly. "You aren't the only one who has had their eyes set on me. When I was a mermaid, I had someone who had their eyes on me."

John was enamored by this and began to understand just why he had to do what he had to do and that was to be Melody's escort. However, he couldn't help but wonder if he did indeed have a future with her.

"I see," he said, trying to not imagine Melody being a mermaid. "Care to dance with me tonight, your highness?"

Melody blushed slightly and curtsied at John, a sign that she had accepted his invitation. At that moment, the sounds of bagpipes were heard and the guests and nobles of the court were treated to the sight of young Scottish soldiers dancing in a traditional swords dance to the music of Loudon's _Bonnie Woods and Braes_.

"Uncle Gordon paraded his whole regiment for my…inspection this morning," said the Duchess of Richmond, who was a guest of honor along with Admiral Nelson. "So, I just rode up and down and in and out and picked my fantasy."

"Mama, you chose such big ones," remarked her daughter, who was silenced when her chin was touched by the duchess.

The young soldiers of Scotland continued their dance and after a brief reel of _High Road to Linton_ , the dance ended and with the sounds of applause breaking out, the bagpipes began to play _The Cock o' the North_. Everyone watched as the Scottish soldiers marched out of the ballroom with the sounds of applause continuing to be heard.

Once the soldiers left, the sounds of trumpets were heard again and everyone turned their attention to Admiral Nelson, dressed in his best uniform, standing at the top of the ballroom before walking downstairs to meet the duchess. Meanwhile, John and Melody continued to attempt getting to know one another as the guests made their way to the dance floor.

"So, I've been with Royal Navy for several years now," said John as he and Melody started dancing. "I've had a dream that if I joined the navy, I could get the attention of the women of London. I guess that maybe I am starring at the woman of my dreams right now."

"Who? Me?" giggled Melody. "I'm only 12 years old."

"That doesn't matter," replied John, trying to talk warmly as he twirled Melody around. "You are a woman to me, no matter your age."

Melody couldn't believe what she was hearing and tried to keep the thought of being in love out of her head. However, John was more than willing to make a pass at the Danish Princess.

"Besides, if you want to be in love me, you're crazy," cried Melody as John dipped her. "You'll have to approve of my mom and dad."

"The king and queen?" asked John, trying to keep making his moves. "Don't worry, they will like me."

Melody felt more and more uncomfortable in front of John, not believing what she was hearing coming from the mouth of this young man from the British Empire. Yes, Melody was a beautiful young girl, but she wasn't yet a woman. She had her whole life ahead of her after all.

Meanwhile, Ariel was standing in the far corner of the ballroom with Vanessa, who wanted to get up close and personal with Admiral Nelson.

"He will have a time for you to meet him," whispered Ariel, nudging Vanessa slightly. "You just have to wait."

"I can't wait," huffed Vanessa. "He needs to know of my situation, your majesty."

"He does know of your husband," replied Ariel. "Eric gave him a list of names of those who were missing."

This wasn't very comforting to Vanessa, who wanted to approach Admiral Nelson and beg him to help her find the man she was supposed to marry. Just then, Sir Percy, one of Admiral Nelson's senior officers walked over and approached the young woman.

"Excuse me," he said, extending his hand out to Vanessa. "All the women of the court have a dance partner. May I have the honor of asking you for a dance?"

"Go ahead," whispered Ariel, encouraging Vanessa to go. "It will take you mind off of things."

Although it was against her better judgment, Vanessa walked out onto the dance floor with Sir Percy. As she watched Vanessa walk onto the dance floor, Ariel felt that it was a perfect time for her to get some air while her daughter danced with Admiral Nelson's son and Eric was conversing with several high ranking members of the court.

Ariel stepped out once again into the cool night air as she walked along the waterways towards the ocean, once again looking out on the Royal Navy fleet.

"If you were only here with us again, daddy," she sighed and looked to make sure that no one was around. "I miss you so much."

Once it was clear, Ariel lifted the skirt of her purple gown and lifted her bare feet out of her purple high heels, walking to the edge of the water and feeling the warmth of the water touching her feet. The feeling made her feel free and young again, just she was when she was a mermaid.

However, Ariel's serenity was interrupted at that moment when a deafening explosion was heard coming from one of the areas of the castle. The blast caused Ariel to fall into the water, undoing her hair, soaking her purple gown and knocking off her tiara. Looking up, Ariel saw smoke rise out of the site of the explosion.

"Impossible," she cried, awestruck at what she was seeing before her eyes. "What is happening?"


	9. A Message From the French

Chapter 9

"A Message From the French"

The sounds of the explosion were heard throughout the kingdom and had frightened everyone in the ballroom. Almost immediately, Eric, Admiral Nelson and a majority of the Royal Navy members ran outside to find the source of the explosion, only to discover Ariel trying to get back on her feet. Seeing his wife and queen on the ground made Eric's instincts kick in and he ran towards Ariel as fast his feet could carry him.

"Ariel, are you okay?" he asked as he helped Ariel get back on her feet. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"I'm fine," Ariel groaned, bending down to pick up her tiara and placing it on her head. "I was just standing out here thinking of daddy and the next thing I know, I heard a loud noise."

The blast, however, had caught the attention of the Royal Navy fleet and many rowboats were heading towards the castle. Being cautious, Admiral Nelson drew his sword and led a group of soldiers towards the billowing smoke out in the distance.

"We'd better investigate," said Eric. "You get back inside and get into some warm clothes."

Ariel was not in the mood to go back inside. She wanted to find out for herself as to what had happened.

"My gown is fine, Eric," protested Ariel, squeezing the ocean water out of her purple gown. "Besides, I need to find out for myself."

But, Eric was insistent on having her stay behind. This was a matter that he and Admiral Nelson needed to attend to.

"No, Ariel," ordered Eric, pushing her away. "You need to be safe. We don't know how many of these bombs are planted around the castle."

Ariel wanted to protest, but Eric's mind was made up as he and several of the castle guard joined Admiral Nelson and the British seamen in investigating the matter.

At that moment, they arrived at the site of the explosion which was in the west courtyard. Upon entering the source of the blast, they saw what appeared to be several crates burning and soot from the bomb scattered everywhere. Even more, they found what appeared to be an injured man who was covered in blood and a left leg was missing.

"Get him to a doctor!" shouted Admiral Nelson, motioning for several soldiers to take him away. "He must live to tell us what happened!"

Several soldiers carefully lifted the man up and carried him off into the castle, determined to keep him from dying, despite the fact that he had lost a lot of blood as a result of his leg being lost in the blast. Upon further inspection of the site, it was discovered that the bomb had something attached to it as a soldier called out to Admiral Nelson.

"Your grace!" called the soldier, picking up a piece of what appeared to be a sash with his bayonet. "I found something!"

Admiral Nelson walked over and inspected the sash, looking at it very closely. An ashed look came onto his face and he dropped the sash onto the ground.

"Admiral, what's wrong?" asked Eric, walking over to him. "Do you know who was responsible?"

"They were here," said Admiral Nelson, quietly. "I should have known they would be here to toy with us. The bastards."

"Who?" asked Eric again, his voice slightly panicked. "Who was here?"

"Frenchmen," replied Admiral Nelson, raising his voice slightly. "Soldiers from the French Navy were here, trying to attack us while we had our ball. Well, if they think that this was a declaration of war, then they will get what they want."

All the men fell silent knowing what was in store for them. They knew that this was only the beginning of what was to come.

"What do we do now?" asked Sir Percy, who drew his sword back into his holster. "Do we go after the French?"

"No, we find who is responsible for this cowardly act and then we go after the French and Spanish fleets," replied Admiral Nelson. "Prepare every ship that is in the harbor. At dawn, we depart for Trafalgar."

A few of the men gasped upon hearing the words of Trafalgar. Trafalgar was located in southern Spain and they were in Denmark. In any way, it would take several weeks, if not months to get to that part of Europe.

"But, that would take a long time, your Grace," said a soldier, only for Admiral Nelson to turn sharply and stare the young man down.

"If God is on our side," replied Admiral Nelson. "Then we will get there much quicker than expected. If you will excuse me, Gentlemen, I have a Frenchman to interrogate."

And Admiral Nelson darted off away from the site, determined to get as much information squeezed out of the French bomb maker as possible.

Meanwhile, Ariel had returned to the ballroom as several servants came to her side when they saw that she was wet and her hair was undone. This caught the attention of Melody, who hiked up her skirt and ran to her mother's side, her face filled with worry.

"Mom, are you all right?" she cried, running over and hugging her tightly. "We heard a loud noise and…"

"I'm all right, Melody," replied Ariel warmly, trying to calm her daughter down. "I'm just wet, nothing more."

"Your highness, we'd better get you out of that gown," suggested Carlotta. "It's all wet."

"It's not that bad," replied Ariel, shaking the water out of it. "Besides, there are far more important matters than just wet clothes to think about right now."

The entire ballroom gathered around the Queen of Denmark upon hearing those words. Everyone had been traumatized by what had happened and the last thing anyone wanted was more bad news.

"There has been an explosion of some sort," said Ariel, addressing the crowd. "But, it's all right. King Eric and the English Royal Navy are investigating the matter at this time. Let's get back to celebrating the visit of our guests."

So, the guests uneasily returned to their ball as Ariel watched along with Melody and John. Although, many wanted to find out the truth behind what had happened just outside the ballroom.

Meanwhile, the explosion had triggered fear not just in the kingdom of Denmark, but also in Atlantica. Triton had sensed that his youngest daughter had been attacked and quickly darted up to the surface to find out what was happening.

"Oi, look at this!" cried a soldier aboard one of the ships. "It's King Triton!"

"No, don't fire!" cried another soldier. "He comes in peace!"

Upon seeing her father rise out of the surface, Ariel left the ballroom once again and ran back out onto the beach with Melody and John following behind.

The details of what happened tonight would soon be revealed, both by Ariel on the beach and Eric and Admiral Nelson in a bedroom in a secluded part of the castle…


	10. Asking Her Father For Help

Chapter 10

"Asking her Father for Help"

Upon surfacing from the ocean below, Triton floated over to his daughter, standing on the beach in a wet purple gown caused from falling into the water as a result of the explosion. Melody was standing next to her, dressed in a pink gown with John, Admiral Nelson's son, at her right. Triton had a look on his face that showed he was concerned for Ariel's safety and came up to see if she and his granddaughter were all right.

"Daddy, I know what you are going to say," said Ariel. "But, I want you to know that…"

"I am aware of what happened, Ariel," interrupted Triton, holding his trident out towards the British fleet. "I sensed that you were not in any danger, but being the protective father that I am, I had to come up."

Ariel could see that Triton had intentions of taking aim at the British fleet. His trident was charging and he was more than ready to shoot at them.

"They aren't responsible, grandfather," pleaded Melody, trying to talk some sense into him. "The explosion happened in the castle grounds, away from us."

"That doesn't matter," cried Triton, lowering his trident. "You were in danger and I have to get involved. As of right now, I am searching for the ship that had killed your mother, Ariel."

Ariel let out a sharp gasp and tears began forming in her eyes upon being reminded of her mother's death. It was still as fresh a wound it was when Athena died while Ariel was just a child. Of course, she was the queen of a nation and had to quickly pull herself together. It was then that Melody had an idea.

"Grandfather, I have an idea," suggested Melody, a gust of wind blowing at her. "Why don't you join us in our battle against the French? The ship that killed grandmother could be in the fleet."

"Don't jump to conclusions, Melody," remarked Ariel. "The ship that hit my mother and your grandmother could have been missing for a long time. Besides, this isn't a matter that concerns you."

Melody didn't take this well and wanted to tell her mother that as the princess of Denmark, this was her concern as much as her parents'. She had after all, taken on Ursula's sister and aided in defeating her.

"Mom, don't you see what you are telling yourself?" protested Melody, grabbing her hand. "You are telling yourself that the events with Morgana mean absolutely nothing to us all. I've learned to better myself in the face of danger and I want to help in any way I can to defeat the French and Spanish and rescue those from that wedding ship."

Ariel considered what her daughter was trying to say to her and knew at that moment she was right. This was a matter that couldn't be kept from Melody. She learned that keeping her from the sea was a mistake and Ariel didn't want to make that same mistake again.

"Melody," sighed Ariel, a smile coming to her face as she walked back onto the beach. "You're right. I don't want to make that same mistake again. We will deal with this together as a family. However, I am worried of the future and what it brings for us."

"Try not to worry about the future," said Triton, bending down to place his hand on Ariel's cheek. "I've learned not to worry about the future a long time ago. I knew that your future was going to be living on the land and look where it has brought you, Ariel."

Ariel smiled at her father's encouragement and realized at that moment she couldn't worry about the safety of her daughter anymore. They had to focus on one day at a time and let time tell on whether the situation against the French would come to a successful conclusion.

"I will join the fight against the humans that attacked you," announced Triton, his trident once again glowing. "I vowed to destroy every human and every enemy that attacks my family and have their blood spilt as a warning to others who intend to do the same."

Triton then floated back into the ocean and clutching the locket with Queen Athena's picture on it, dropped beneath the ocean and returned to Atlantica. With her father joining the fight, Ariel felt slightly better at this, knowing that she could finally find the ship that killed her mother and protect her kingdom from the French and Spanish navies.

Meanwhile, Admiral Nelson and Eric were doing everything they could to squeeze information out of the gravely injured Frenchman who had ignited the bomb in the courtyard.

"Talk, you idiot," barked Nelson, his dagger placed at the wounded Frenchman's throat. "If you are acting under Napoleon's orders, I want you to speak before I cut your tongue out!"

"Merde!" cried the Frenchman, weakly and producing a taunting smile. "I will never tell and I will make sure that his grace destroys you and your English pansies. As we speak, my comrades in the French Navy are transforming the captives from that Wedding ship into…"

Suddenly, he felt a sharp loss of oxygen and began to choke on his blood, spurting out of his mouth like a whale.

"Transforming?" demanded Eric, grabbing the Frenchman and shaking him like a ragdoll. "Transforming into what? Tell us! Tell us now!"

But, the Frenchman didn't respond and quickly died as his eyes rolled back and he drew his last breath. With the Frenchman dead, Eric and Admiral Nelson were more than determined to go after the French and Spanish navies.

If what he said was true, then the French were doing everything they could to make the Danish hostage swear their allegiance to Napoleon and the French Empire.

"Your grace," said Sir Percy, knocking on the door to the bedroom. "The officers and other ranks are waiting for your orders. Do we start our pursuit at dawn as you requested?"

Admiral Nelson was silent for a minute, but after a light sigh, he looked back up at Sir Percy with a sharp look on his face.

"Yes, Sir Percy," he ordered. "We start our pursuit at dawn. That's an order."

The journey to Trafalgar and the greatest Naval battle in history would so begin…


	11. Wrath of the French

Chapter 11

"Wrath of the French"

While the Danish and British prepared themselves to go after the French and Spanish fleets, the leader of both fleets stood out on his French ship overlooking the destruction of a pair of ships that he had attacked. Many of the young French sailors had pulled victims onto longboats and were bringing them to the leader who was none other than one of France's most admired Naval Admirals, Pierre-Charles Villeneuve.

"The seas of glory are never a pretty sight," he sighed as he continued to look out over the destruction his navy had caused. "Nevertheless, two ships attacked in one day. That's good news to slap on the walls of Paris. France needs sailors to man her fleet and I am the one who will honor that request."

Villeneuve then walked down beneath towards the brig where the Danish captives were being held along with several others, including the man that Vanessa was supposed to marry.

"You, Admiral!" called a Danish captive, attracting his attention. "If you think that we are just going to pledge alliegance to you, then…"

"Shut up, you Danish dog!" snapped the French Admiral, grabbing the man by his collar. "You belong to France now, all of you! Until you decide to give up your loyalty to King Eric, you will all remain down below!"

Villeneuve then released his grip on the man, but not before pushing him down to the floor.

"And if you all tempt my patience further," he continued, pulling out a pistol from his holster. "I will shoot you and throw you to the beasts of the sea. So, be warned."

Villeneuve then walked out as the Danish captives continued to be shocked by what had just happened. In their minds, they knew that they would all soon die unless if they swore their allegiance, but they all knew that they would all die as Danes if necessary.

"He won't get away with this," cried a Danish captive. "We will be rescued and he will be tried and killed for this barbaric act against us."

"If only it were that simple," sighed another Danish captive who was the man Vanessa was supposed to marry. "Vanessa is probably dead by now and there is nothing that we can do."

"She could have been rescued, Victor," said a young Dane from another cell. "Let God find her and bring you comfort."

Victor took in another sigh and thought of the life he could have had if he married Vanessa. One moment, he saw her walking down the aisle, dressed in a beautiful wedding gown, and the next, he found himself in the brig of a French navy ship, being held unless he swore his loyalty to Napoleon and the French Empire.

Meanwhile, back on the brig, Villeneuve approached one of his fellow admirals, who was looking out through a telescope towards a group of ships that had been attacked and were burning. Villeneuve smiled at the destruction that had been caused and watched as men jumped from the burning ships into the waters of the Cape of Trafalgar.

"Very good, Admiral Gravina," chuckled Villeneuve. "You have managed to attack the Prussian Fleet and destroy the one obstacle in our way."

"Indeed, senor," replied Gravina, who spoke in a Spanish accent. "Shall I order my men to kill anyone who doesn't swear loyalty?"

"No," remarked Villeneuve. "Capture them and bring them to me. I want to send that blasted Nelson and his band of sea dogs a message of what is to come in the days ahead."

Villeneuve chuckled softly as he watched the longboats bring the captured Prussians to his ship. The captives were forced on board and forced to bow down to Admiral Villeneuve, who smiled down on the captured Prussians, chained up in shackles.

"Don't think you are going to get out of this alive, my friends," said Villeneuve. "You know why you are here. I come to you on behalf of his excellency, Napoleon of France, who has ordered that we press men like yourselves to preserve the integrity of France's navy. However, since you are soldiers of Prussia, I am going to need to send a message to your friend, Nelson and his navy."

Villeneuve then turned his attention towards an older Prussian soldier and motioned for the man to be released. One of the French soldiers freed the man and dragged him towards the starboard side of the ship as he struggled against his bonds. From down in the brig, the captured Danes heard the man's screams for help and all of a sudden, the sounds of a gunshot were heard, followed by splash into the waters.

"This is madness!" cried a Danish captive. "We have to get out of here, but how can we do it?"

"We don't," replied Victor. "We look to God to help us find a way out of this situation. If there is anyone who can help us now, it is him…or Lord Nelson."

Back on the deck, the rest of the Prussian captives were killed either by bayonet or their throats were slit on the orders of Villeneuve and Gravina. Once they were dead, their bodies were tied down to barrels and thrown overboard into the waters of the Atlantic.

"Let that be a warning, Nelson," thought Villeneuve as he watched the ocean take the bodies away. "I will stop at nothing until the English empire is brought to its knees along with the rest of Europe. When all is said and done, France will rule all that Europe has."

This caused Admiral Gravina to be slightly jealous because Spain was aiding France in this endeavor and that they were getting no credit for it whatsoever. Still, this was a chance for Spain to prove itself as a lethal threat to Europe as well as France.

"They won't get away with this," cried a Prussian naval officer, who had heard what had happened to his men. "Order every man to be ready to serve the fatherland."

"At once, Herr Admiral," replied his subordinate, saluting him. "The French and Spanish pigs will not get away with this cowardly act. We shall contact Admiral Nelson and King Eric at once and tell them to arrive as soon as possible."

"Very good, get on it," ordered the Naval Officer.

But, the Prussians were unaware that help was already on the way…


	12. Departing Denmark

Chapter 12

"Departing Denmark"

At the first stroke of light, the English and Danish fleets were preparing themselves to go after the French and Spanish navies. Instead of sunlight, a light rain was falling on the kingdom of Denmark as the armies were directed towards the ships just off the coast.

"Too bad there is no sunlight," remarked Eric as he and Admiral Nelson watched the British soldiers walk towards the docks on horseback. "We could sure use it right now."

"Indeed," agreed Nelson. "I suppose this is God's way of telling us that we could expect a hard fought battle against our enemies."

Eric had a two sided thought about this statement from Admiral Nelson. On one side, he wanted to destroy the people responsible for committing a cowardly act against his country and his kingdom. But, at the same time, Eric was not someone who was willing to sacrifice human lives for the glory of Denmark.

"That doesn't matter, Admiral Nelson," interjected Eric. "I just don't know how I am going to expect this battle to turn out when the time comes."

Both men then looked out towards the horizon to see King Triton out in the distance not far from the Royal Navy fleet. Eric could see that his father-in-law was also going to join the battle against the French and Spanish. Although he could see Triton up close, Eric sensed a look of anger on Triton's face, but it wasn't just any anger. It was an anger that was sparked by an attack that was made on his family.

"There is one who can't wait to meet our enemies," said Eric, turning back to Nelson. "He's out in the middle of the ocean."

"Who?" asked Nelson as a servant on horseback handed Nelson a telescope, allowing him to see what Eric was seeing. Looking through the telescope hard, Nelson saw Triton sitting in the middle of the ocean, his trident glowing.

"I see that the great King Triton is going to join us in our battle," he remarked, putting the telescope down. "We could use all the help we can get in our upcoming fight, King Eric."

After a brief nod from Eric, the two men then looked down towards the regiments of British and Danish soldiers marching towards the docks and towards the ships of their respective fleets.

"Madness," remarked one soldier. "It's all madness, they know what they are doing."

"Look, I keep asking ya," said another soldier. "If Bony could kick the Prussians in the arse, why are we doing all the running?"

News of the Prussian attack of the Spanish coast had quickly reached Denmark and the British navy was quick to criticize why they were going after the French and Spanish when they had attacked the Prussian Navy.

"Kicked the Prussians?" asked Eric, astonished by what he had just heard. "What exactly was he talking about, Admiral?"

"A pair of Prussian navy ships were attacked yesterday," answered Nelson. "Rumors say that a few men were executed, but we can't confirm that intelligence yet."

Eric could not believe what he was hearing. He could only think of the Prussian people as his kingdom was very good friends with the Prussian royal family. This only made him grow more and more determined to find who was responsible for this cowardly act and destroy them.

However, the train of thought was interrupted by the sounds of bagpipes and the sounds of the Scottish soldiers singing a traditional Scottish song called _MacPherson's Rant._ Eric noticed Nelson enjoying the singing and couldn't help but also hum a few bars as well as the Duke of Gordon rode up to the two men and saluted them as he joined them.

"I like the cut of your men, Gordon," said Nelson.

"Ah, damn forward fellows with a bayonet, Nelson," replied Gordon. "Meat and Eggs from the cradle up and a lemon a month."

The three men continued to listen in to the joyful and upbeat song that the Scots were singing, enjoying it every step of the way.

"All from me own acres, bred 'em me self," remarked Gordon. "Some of them could call me something more than 'colonel,' eh?"

This caused the three men to break out into a small laughter, for none of them knew what the Duke of Gordon meant by calling him something more than 'colonel.' After a few moments, Gordon saluted Eric and Nelson before leaving to join his men aboard his assigned ship.

By now, the rain was now starting to come down even harder and the wind was starting to die down. This was the decision by the two men that they needed to depart at once. After several more regiments had boarded their ships. Admiral Nelson gave the order to begin the journey to find and destroy the Spanish and French fleets.

Ariel and Melody also were coming along as well as Vanessa, who was determined to find and rescue Victor from the clutches of the French and Spanish navies.

"I'm sure going to miss it," sighed Ariel, as she watched the Danish kingdom fade into the fog. "If only we can get back soon."

"You'd better get down below, your highness," said a Danish soldier, as the wind blew at Ariel's hair. "Your husband doesn't want you to become sick."

So, the Danish soldier led Ariel into her quarters that she shared with Eric and Ariel took off her long black cloak that was soaking wet and sat down at a desk, looking out over the water. Ariel was worried about the events that were going to transpire soon. It was her fear of the unknown that had caused a dark cloud to form over the Royal Navy fleet.

After all, the French were a dangerous threat to Europe and that they had to be stopped at all costs. The one thought that everyone in the fleet was thinking of was what if there would be more attacks like the one on the wedding ship off the coast of Ariel and Eric's kingdom.

"Perhaps all we can do now is do what Vanessa did the other day," thought Ariel. "I don't know how I can talk to God, but I will try my best."

Ariel then got down on her knees and began to silently pray the best she could to God. She didn't know if that he would listen, but it was a prayer that she hoped God would listen to for the sake of her family and her people on both the land and the sea…


	13. An Uneasy Dinner

Chapter 13

"An Uneasy Dinner"

For the first few days of their hunt for the French and Spanish fleets, the English and Danish fleets had a strong favorable wind travelling across the North Atlantic and around the coasts of Northern Europe and around Portugal. Many believed that the strong wind was an act of God who some, including Nelson, believed that he was on their side.

By the evening of October 19, 1805, the combined fleets had passed along the coasts of Portugal and southern Spain and by the evening of October 20th, the fleet had neared the cape of Trafalgar, where they met the French and Spanish fleets, about several miles away from them. That night, Ariel, Eric and Melody were invited for dinner aboard Nelson's ship, HMS Victory.

Everyone that night knew of the impending battle that was to take place and a sense of unease was everywhere. However, Nelson was confident that they could defeat the combined fleets.

"There is really no need for nerves," Nelson said to John as they waited for Ariel and Eric's ship to arrive. "We should all be confident that the English and Danish will prevail."

"I really hope so, father," replied John. "We spent several days trying to come up with a strategy, if only it can work."

Nevertheless, Admiral Nelson remained confident. He had every reason to be confident and knew that the French Navy would soon be at his feet, begging for mercy.

"This is what you prepared yourself for son," he said, as the Danish royal ship came up. "If there was ever a time to make a name for yourself, it's now."

John tried to take his father's words to heart as a gangplank crossed over to the Danish royal ship. Eric, dressed in his uniform, came forth first followed by Ariel and Melody, dressed in their gowns from the ball held back at the Danish palace and several high ranking officials and military officers. Nelson then stepped over to them as Ariel and Melody curtsied to him and John.

"Welcome my friends and allies," said Nelson, opening his arms out to the Danish royal family. "Welcome aboard the HMS Victory. I have prepared a feast for all of you that symbolizes our new alliance. Please, follow me."

So, they all followed Nelson and John to the dining room of the ship as Ariel took in notice of the platoon of English and Scottish soldiers readying the guns for the impending battle that could take place at any time.

"What's wrong, mom?" asked Melody, taking note of her mother's worry. "You seem worried about something."

"It's just I have never seen so much focus on battle before, Melody," replied Ariel, worriedly. "Part of me wants to go back to Denmark or even Atlantica and stay where it's safe, but I can't. I need to support your father."

"We are all a little worried, but we've been through worse," said Melody as they approached the dining room. "Besides, Admiral Nelson's son makes me feel comfortable."

This made Ariel even more uneasy, for John was slightly older than Melody and Ariel worriedly of potential consequences in such a relationship. This thought continued to cross her mind as they sat down for a dinner of various game and fish. While the Danes were uneasy, the English were relaxed and focused on the upcoming battle.

"You shouldn't be worried at all, lasses and laddies," remarked Gordon as he ate a bowl of haggis, a traditional Scottish dish. "We'll give the French and Spanish a response to what happened to those people aboard your ship. We are English, and the English are best at everything."

As much as this meant to uplift the Danish, it didn't do much as they silently ate the food that was presented in front of them. However, out of all the Danish delegation, only Melody seemed to be the most uplifting. Despite the fact that she was 12 years old, after all, she had gained a high level of confidence as a result of the events with Morgana.

"I don't understand," remarked Gordon to Nelson. "I've not heard anything out of these people all night. What should we do?"

"I think we should have the musicians perform some of the music that was played at the ball," said Nelson. "Have them brought in here at once."

Excusing himself, Gordon got up and ordered a servant to bring in the musicians to the dining room. A little while later, the musicians from the ball came into the dining hall and began to play various waltzes and foxtrots to enlighten the Danish delegation. The sound of the music could only brighten the spirits of everyone in the room as they all danced except for Nelson and Gordon, who stood at a far corner of the large room.

"Just a little something to brighten the spirits of our Danish friends," said Nelson, happily as he watched them all dance. "You will find that we English take these into account very seriously."

"I think Nelson has a point, Ariel," said Eric to Ariel as they danced. "We need to have Nelson be a role model for us and our daughter."

Ariel smiled briefly as Eric twirled her around. The Queen of Denmark could only produce a small smile, as she was still nervous. It was after all not because of the impending battle, but because of the blossoming relationship between Melody and John. It became evident to Ariel, when she saw her daughter resting her head on John's shoulder.

"She's only 12 years old," thought Ariel. "Why would she be acting this way?"

After the dancing was done, Eric, Ariel and their court crossed the gangplank to return to the Danish ship. However, just as they crossed, a loud scream came from Ariel when she saw a body floating in the water. Ariel was so scared that she nearly fell into the ocean, but was saved by Eric.

"Ariel, what's happened?" he cried, pulling her up.

"I saw something!" she shrieked, pointing down at the floating barrel, feverishly. "It looks like a dead body!"

Eric motioned for a sailor onboard to pull the body up and on board the ship. Nelson also walked on board the Danish ship and watched as the body was cut from the barrel. A doctor aboard the Danish ship checked to see if the body was alive, but it wasn't.

"This man was shot in the head," he concluded, looking back to the crowd around him. "It's clear to me that this man was executed by the French or the Spanish."

"Or both," sighed Nelson. "What's worse is that he was a Prussian soldier, judging from his uniform. Poor Blucher, he lost more of his best men to these barbarians."

Just then, a loud cry came from outside and several more barrels with bodies attached to them were hoisted up onto the _Victory_. Nelson walked out and saw more and more bodies attached to barrels being cut away. It was clear to Nelson that this was an act of cowardice by the French, although they were trying to send him a warning.

"All right, Villeneuve," thought Nelson. "You think you can scare us with your tricks of dead bodies? Well, at high noon tomorrow, you and your fleet will suffer the wrath of his majesty and all his mighty works."


	14. Ensuring Passion

Chapter 14

"Ensuring Passion"

While the bodies of the Prussian soldiers continued to be accounted for, Melody and John retreated to another room where they could be alone as all the attention their parents were giving to was to the dead bodies. Although she was brave about it, seeing dead bodies caused Melody to feel a sense of fear flow through her veins.

"Who would do such a thing, John?" she gasped as they walked into her private quarters. "I may be brave, but that was too much for me to take."

"It was too much for me to," added John as he shut the door. "My father had always taught me that Bony would do anything that would get the attention of his enemies. There is no doubt that we will be fighting soon."

Both Melody and John realized at that moment that their feelings to one another were starting to grow wildly. The act of war had struck fear into both the English and Danish navies and everyone on board the ships were affected, including the Danish royals. John could see that Melody needed to be comforted before the ensuring battle and was going to do everything in his power to do just that.

"You know, Melody," he said. "Has anyone ever told you that you are the most beautiful princess in all of Europe?"

Melody had somehow taken this an insult, given the fact that this was a compliment that was given to her after a horrible act of crime was committed.

"What does that have to do with anything?" she cried. "I thought we were just friends, John. I'm much too young to be thinking off anything like that."

"You're never too young to realize what you can truly become," whispered John, getting close to Melody. "To me, you are a beautiful young woman who has a grand future ahead of you."

He then placed his lips on Melody's lips and although Melody wanted to scream, she could only feel a sense of relief flowing through her veins. It was at that moment that Melody had felt the most comfortable since becoming a mermaid. For a moment, she could feel free as John slowly undid the tie in her long black hair and then slowly unzipped the back of her pink gown.

"He makes me feel comfortable," thought Melody as John slowly pulled her pink gown off and over her shoulders. "I shouldn't be doing this, but it's relaxing."

Melody then slowly unbuttoned the top of John's uniform and then pulled down his britches while he pulled down her white petticoat, leaving Melody in her white camisole, corset and bloomers while her pink stockings and high heels remained, only to be kicked off. However, both Melody and John suddenly realized what they were doing was wrong and quickly stopped. Both of them then let out a sharp gasp upon seeing each other in their undergarments and quickly gathered their discarded clothes together.

"What are we doing?" gasped John, quickly putting back on his uniform. "My father is going to kill me for this!"

"Mine too," cried Melody, who quickly went over to grab her nightgown. "I don't know what I was thinking! You'd better get out of here before my parents return!"

John then finished putting his uniform back on and quickly darted out of the princess' quarters, trying to not show that he and Melody tried to engage in passion. Melody then shut the door to her quarters and went to bed, realizing that what she and John did was relaxing, but wrong.

Meanwhile, Ariel and Eric had returned to their own quarters after accounting for all the dead bodies that had been recovered. Ariel had gotten sick to the point of nearly vomiting from her stomach. She had never seen dead bodies in her life since the death of her mother and she was only a woman of 28 years old.

"Eric, why do people get treated like this?" asked Ariel, still in shock over what had just happened. "I never saw anything like this in Atlantica."

"Because not everyone cares for one another," he replied. "There is a reason why we declare war on countries and this is why."

"What can we do?" sighed Ariel. "I thought this was about rescuing those from the wedding ship that was attacked."

Eric then removed his long black boots and thought of a way to calm his wife down. She was frightened and that he needed to do something that most husbands would use to calm their wives down. Walking over to Ariel, he sat down next to her and his placed his gloved hand on hers.

"I think I can help you calm down and reassure your mind," he said and placed his lips on Ariel's while he rubbed his fingers through her red hair, undoing the neat bun and knocking the crown off of Ariel's head.

Continuing their passion, Ariel unbuttoned Eric's tunic while he unzipped the back of Ariel's purple gown, pulling it over her head, leaving Ariel in her white petticoat, while she kicked off her purple high heels. In a sense, it helped Ariel feel so alive for her bare feet to touch the carpeted floor.

After sliding down her petticoat and stepping out of it, Ariel and Eric continued their passion in their undergarments until Ariel was in her camisole, corset and bloomers and Eric was left in his long johns.

"It sure feels good for a moment," sighed Ariel as she stroked Eric's bare chest. "I wonder how long it will last."

"I don't know," replied Eric. "But, no matter what happens, we are going to be together and I will always love you."

With this reassurance, Ariel fell happily asleep with her husband at her side, unlike Melody, who feared of the repercussions of her getting close to John. Nevertheless, the feel of battle continued to be felt across the combined fleets on both sides. Admiral Nelson walked out onto the deck of his ship and looked out over the French and Spanish fleet, who had now gone into the port of Trafalgar.

"Sleep now while you still can, you French cowards," said Nelson, as a strong gust of wind blew through the fleet. "At high noon tomorrow, you will be annihilated and the people you hold hostage will be liberated."


	15. Morning of the Battle

Chapter 15

"Morning of the Battle"

As the first ray of sunlight came over the Cape of Trafalgar, the British and Danish Fleets waited for the French and Spanish Fleets to make their move. Everyone was up and about, anxious for the battle to begin. It seemed that noon couldn't come soon enough and one move could start to make the guns go off. Down under the combined fleets, King Triton and his army of mermen were just as anxious to start the battle.

"Remember men," said Triton, clad in gold armor and wielding a sword in his holster. "Show no mercy. I want that ship found and every single one could be the one that killed Queen Athena. If a human shows resistance, then kill them. Let them know that you are stronger than them and that you have no fear."

A loud cry came from the army of mermen followed by the cheering of "Long Live Triton and Long Live Atlantica!" From a short distance, dressed in similar armor, Sebastian the crab was witnessing all of this and could only think of was what he could have been doing, which was writing symphonies, not going after one ship.

"Your majesty," suggested the crab as Triton came back to his side. "Don't you think that maybe you are going too far to find just one ship?"

"I have to Sebastian," replied Triton, looking down at him. "For 23 years, I have been trying to find the ship responsible and destroy it along with the crew who control it. Now is the time to do the task I have set out to accomplish."

This didn't bode well with Sebastian, who only shrugged his shoulders and sighed. It appeared that there was no chance he would try to persuade his superior from going on this quest. Losing Queen Athena was one thing, but Sebastian wondered if it was really worth it to risk and sacrifice lives for this.

"Why must you do this to yourself, your majesty?" he thought. "There is so much to life than this. Hasn't your youngest daughter taught you anything about living with humans?"

Meanwhile, up in the HMS Victory, Admiral Nelson and his officers were holding an early morning meeting on battle plans for what will happen in the upcoming conflict.

"Gentlemen, it is best that we aim for the weak spots as we possibly can," he said, holding down a map with the British and Danish fleets on one side and the French and Spanish fleets on the other. "I want nothing to chance. We need to strike the weak spots as we possibly can."

"I completely agree," remarked Sir Percy. "We need to take out the ships that hold the most protection of Villeneuve."

"Sir Percy has a point," said an officer. "The two ships that flank the _Bucentaure_ must be taking out to give us an early advantage."

All the officers and Nelson nodded in agreement on this and Nelson made markings on the two ships that had to be taken out in order to gain a strategic advantage. One was a Spanish ship called the _Neptuno_ and the other was a French ship called the _Scipion_.

"Then we need a group of men to go after the people that the French are holding captive," continued Nelson, turning his attention to Gordon, who had a Scottish sash tied on his uniform. "That is where you come in, Gordon."

"Aye, your grace," said the leader of the Scotsmen, rising to his feet. "My men show no fear and they will be perfect in doing what they need to do."

"Very well," said Lord Nelson, drawing on a new piece of paper. "As soon as the Bucentaure is weakened, you will send a group of soldiers, both English and Scottish, to board her and find the captives. It is most likely that they will be in the brig, although the French may have them in French uniforms. If they talk in a Danish accent, then you will know it is them and you will take them into your custody, regardless if they show resistance or not."

"But, what if they don't?" asked Gordon, who knew of what would happen if things went wrong. "What do we do then?"

Admiral Nelson had to understand of what would happen if things did indeed go wrong. He wanted to make sure that all the hostages were freed and thus, he would have to do the unthinkable in the heat of passion.

"I don't want to kill any hostages," sighed Admiral Nelson, getting up from the table and walking towards a window looking over towards the French and Spanish fleets. "But, there may be a moment where we cannot tell who is a hostage and who is a soldier. If we kill any hostages, then it would be a tragedy. This is war and we cannot take any shortcuts."

All the men nodded in agreement, except for Gordon, who hated to kill any innocent man. After all, as he said before, his men looked up to him as a father figure and he would hate for anything to happen to them.

Aboard the Danish ship that they were staying on, Ariel and Eric stood out on the deck while one of the officers was briefing the soldiers on what would happen in the upcoming battle. Ariel was wearing the green dress she wore when Triton turned her back into a mermaid and knew that she could end up being turned back into a mermaid at any time.

"I hope last night meant something to you, Ariel," said Eric as they continued to watch the final preparations. "We both needed to enjoy the comforts of life while they lasted."

"I agree," sighed Ariel. "And I know you were right that we needed to do this. Daddy had always said that we needed to go to war at any time and that this is time to do so."

Ariel then sighed heavily as she began to think of her life up until that moment. She was scared, scared that she was in the situation that she was in. In her mind, Ariel wanted to resort to talking, but she tried it and didn't work. Eric's mind was made up and there was nothing she could do about it.

The battle was about to begin as the hours ticked away…


	16. Every Man Shall Do His Duty

Chapter 16

"Every Man Shall Do His Duty"

As the morning continued to roll along, every man aboard the combined fleets waited for that first gunshot to be heard to start the battle of Trafalgar. One move could start the battle at any time and everyone knew that. Wanting to take a break from the tension, Ariel made her way down to the bottom deck of the Danish ship that she was on and came up to a room where a group of Danish soldiers were praying with Vanessa, who was wearing a dress that Ariel wore on her first date with Eric all those years ago.

"Holy Mary, Mother of God," they all said, kneeling and praying before a cross of Jesus that was planted on a pole. "Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen."

This brought a smile to Ariel's face, knowing how Vanessa was being able to comfort the soldiers with the power of prayer and God's word. This was a battle in which lives would most likely be lost and the power of prayer would most likely be useful in a situation like this.

"I just hope that this God is on our side today," thought Ariel as she walked in and kneeled down at a pew. Although she was never taught the word of God, there was no better time to learn than now, at the impending start of a battle of epic proportions.

At the same time, John was standing next to his father, holding a rifle in his hands as he waited along with the rest of the British navy for that first sound of gunfire. He couldn't help but wonder whether he should tell his father about what had happened between him and Melody the night before. On one hand, he knew that his father would be happy that he was courting a young woman, especially a princess. But, on the other hand, John did try to rob Melody of her virginity and that was a crime that was especially heinous.

"Father, before I join my ranks," he said as Admiral Nelson looked out at the _Bucatane_ on his telescope. "There is something of great importance that I need to talk to you about."

"What is it, son?" asked Nelson. "Please tell me at once. Neither one of us may be alive before this day is over."

"Well," sighed John, looking down at the floor for a moment. "Last night, after we discovered the dead Prussians, Melody and I…"

"Yes?" said Nelson, still looking through his telescope. "Out with it, boy!"

"I got close to Princess Melody and we…" answered John, hesitantly. "Well, I almost robbed her of her virginity."

Nelson's eyes widened at hearing this and he slowly closed his telescope with one hand and then grabbed John by the scruff of his uniform and placed him against a pole of the ship.

"What did you say?" he growled, a look of anger came on his face. "Tell me right now."

"I made her feel comfortable, father," protested John, chuckling nervously. "She was scared and I…"

"Do you realize what you could have done?" snarled Nelson, growing angry. "You could have broken our alliance before the biggest naval battle in our country's history. Yes, I want you to have a woman by your side, but only a woman at your own age. If we live through this, remind me to whip you after this battle."

Nelson then sharply dropped John onto the floor of the ship and returned to his quarters, visibly upset over what his son had just done. Nelson was right, he wanted his son to have a woman. But, there was a proper way to do it and he clearly didn't do it properly.

However, Nelson had a battle to focus on and he went over to his telegraph and began to write a short memo that said:

 _May the Great God, whom I worship, grant to my Country and for the benefit of Europe in general a great and glorious victory; and may no misconduct in anyone tarnish it; and may humanity after Victory be the predominant feature of the British fleet. For myself, individually, I commit my life to Him who made me, and may His blessing light upon my endeavours for serving my Country faithfully. To Him I resign myself and the just cause which is entrusted to me to defend. Amen. Amen. Amen._

After writing this brief message, Nelson left his quarters once again and then headed over to one of the flagpole's where a soldier saluted him.

"Is everything in place?" Nelson asked the soldier.

"Yes, sir," replied the soldier. "Everything is in place."

"Then get on with it," ordered Nelson and after a brief salute, the soldier turned and hoisted up the flag. But, it wasn't just any ordinary battle flag, this was a flag that sent out a message and soon, both fleets on both sides took heed of what they were seeing:

 _England expects that every man will do his duty._

Seeing the message had inspired the soldiers to prepare themselves for battle and take up their stations. Both Eric and Nelson were confident of winning the battle and after praying, Ariel was also feeling confident.

"We will live through this, Ariel," said Eric, clutching her hand. "By the grace of God, we will live through this and we will win this fight."

Ariel didn't respond, but nodded and mouthed that she loved Eric. Down below, Melody was hiding in her quarters at the orders of her parents, dressed in only her undergarments. She was still thinking about her time with John the night before and wanted to tell her parents about it, but was afraid to. She was only twelve years old after all and had her whole life ahead of her.

Yes, everything seemed like it was going to come out. But then, the clock struck high noon and the sounds of gunfire were heard from the _Bucantane_ towards the British and Danish fleets.

The Battle of Trafalgar had begun…


	17. Start of the Battle

Chapter 17

"Start of the Battle"

The tense silence of the waters off of Cape Trafalgar were pierced at high noon, when a ship of the French Navy opened fire on the combined Danish/English navy. The blast was fired at two columns with one being British and the other being Danish. The sound had caused both the main ships to shake and shudder and caused Ariel to feel nervous.

"What was that?" she cried as the cross bearing Jesus fell to the ground. The soldiers praying knew that the time for prayer was past and that they had to report to their battle stations. Grabbing their weapons, they got on deck and prepared themselves for the battle ahead.

"Your highness, we need to get you to safety," cried a pair of soldiers who grabbed Ariel by her arms and dragged her out of the room as Danish soldiers took to their posts.

Once getting on deck, the sounds of gunfire pierced the air and the sights of French flags only grew the determination of the two navies to defeat their enemy. But a twinge of fear came through Ariel and only wondered when or if Triton and his mermen army would get involved.

"All right, men!" shouted a ship captain in the column under attack. "This is what you prepared yourselves for! Ready, aim, fire!"

The sounds of cannons opened fire on the attacking French ship, already causing major damage. The French ship responded with a barrage of cannon fire, severely crippling the British ship and either killing or wounding several men.

"Ariel!" cried Eric as the Danish soldiers fired at another French ship. "Get down below!"

"You need to come with us, sire!" shouted the Danish soldiers. "This is far too dangerous for you! We need to get you both below!"

As Eric tried to speak, a loud scream was heard and the first group of British soldiers were sent into the cold waters of the Trafalgar coast. The crippled ship continued to be barraged by cannon fire and was soon destroyed.

"Get Ariel below!" ordered Eric, drawing his sword. "I'm staying with my men!"

"Eric!" cried Ariel, grabbing his arm and stopping him from going any further. "Please, be careful!"

Tears began to well up in the ex-mermaid's eyes and Eric gave her a giant hug and once they broke up, Ariel was led down below and Eric ran down to the deck to take command of a battery, preparing to attack a Spanish ship. Meanwhile, Admiral Nelson watched from the HMS Victory as his ship prepared to join the battle.

"Make sure no ship is idle!" he ordered to an officer. "As soon as a hole opens up, I want every one of our ships is involved!"

"What about the hostages?" cried Sir Percy. "The ones on Villeneuve's ship?"

Being the veteran seaman that he was, Nelson carefully studied the lead ship and determined that in order to attack and save the hostages, all of Villeneuve's strongest ships and regiments needed to be taken out.

"We need to take out the strongest ships in the fleet if we are to get to them," decided Nelson, looking over to Sir Percy. "Without them, Villeneuve will be at our mercy. Once they are taken out, we move in. Is that understood?"

Sir Percy saluted his superior before attending to his duties. At that moment, Admiral Nelson smiled when he saw what appeared to be a ship that he thought would be his trump card. The ship came faster and faster as it headed toward the rear French/Spanish line.

"Collingwood, you've come at last," he thought as a younger British admiral drew his sword and raised it into the air, preparing it seemed, to board the ship and attack whoever was on board. Next to him was Colonel Gordon, whose Highlanders were preparing to also attack.

"Gordon," said Collingwood. "Get your bastards up onto the crest. I'll bring up the rest of the Brigade."

"Don't hurry yourself, Colin," replied Gordon, who was looking calm. "My lads will hold them until you've come."

But, Collingwood was in no mood for pleasantries.

"Get forward, damn your eyes," he muttered as Gordon turned to his men and ordered them to charge as the two ships collided.

Storming like a wild stampede of buffalo, the British and Scottish soldiers attacked the French ship and despite gallant resistance, the French soldiers on board were no match for the fierce English and Scottish soldiers that slayed them and threw their bodies into the sea. Down below, Triton watched as the bodies of the deceased either floated on the surface or sunk into the waters below.

"Your majesty," cried Sebastian. "Shall I give the order?"

Triton was hestitant to strike, after all. All he initally wanted to do was to attack the ship that killed Queen Athena and nothing more. But, it seemed that now with his daughter and granddaughter involved, he was being more and more cautious when it came to attacking.

"No, Sebastian," replied Triton, lowering his spear. "I want to wait until the time is right."

"The time is right, sire," remarked Sebastian. "We need to attack!"

The merman carefully stayed still until their leader would give the order, but just then, a loud explosion was heard and a French ship quickly sank to the bottom of the sea. It wasn't the ship Triton wanted, but it gave his men enough confidence to strike.

"Sire, we need to attack now!" cried a merman officer and Triton looked up to see the bottom of the Danish Royal ship bearing Ariel, Eric and Melody advancing towards the carnage going on above them with a fleet of Danish ships behind them. "Shall I give the order?"

"Not yet!" said Triton, much to the merman army's displeasure. "I don't want to hit the ship bearing my daughter and her family!"

Back on the surface, Eric drew his sword and with Ariel and Melody safely below, prepared to board any of the French and Spanish ships that came his way.

"So, that youthful King Eric wants to get my men, eh?" said Villeneuve, looking through his telescope.

"He seems brave enough to enter the field of battle," remarked Gravina. "The Danish are fierce and noble like their friends, the English."

"That may be," said Villeneuve. "That may be. But, we'll match them with our lancers."

Just then, a French ship bearing lancers from Poland came up and prepared to cross paths with the Danish ships, eager to join the fight and kill anyone who stood in their way.


	18. Attack of the Polish Lancers

Chapter 18

"Attack of the Polish Lancers"

Led by King Eric, the Danish navy began to attack the French and Spanish fleets and on the orders of their king, the Danish soldiers boarded the French ships and together with the British, they combated with the brave Frenchmen and Eric swung his sword wildly, slashing his way against the bayonets and swords that the Frenchmen wielded. Just then, the ship bearing the Polish lancers jumped onto a ship that Eric was on and began skewering at his men.

"Your highness, look!" cried a Danish soldier and seeing his men being killed like wild animals, Eric tried to help, to be confronted by two French soldiers who pointed their swords at him, but Eric held them back. Aboard the HMS Victory, Nelson watched as his Danish friends were being attacked.

"He's in trouble," said Nelson, grimly, before turning to his officers. "We have to help him. Prepare to join the fight!"

The men saluted and did as they were told, but before he could go on any further, Nelson was stopped by a pair of royal navy captains who then pointed towards Collingwood's ship, firing on the attacking French ship.

"Now gentlemen," cried Collingwood, preparing to aide Admiral Nelson's friend. "Let us do something today which the world will talk of hereafter."

With a roar from his men, Collingwood's ship collided and he and his men charged, aiding the Danish king and his soldiers in fighting with all their might and glory. Meanwhile, Ariel was led back into the prayer room where the wounded English and Danish soldiers were brought in and being tended to by navy doctors.

"Mom!" cried a voice and Ariel looked to see Melody running towards her and hugging her tightly. "I'm so scared!"

"Me too, Melody," replied Ariel, hugging Melody tightly. "All we can do now is pray."

So, Ariel and Melody began to walk around the room and silently prayed for the well-being of the men that either laid wounded or dying. One man even began to paw on Ariel, his bloodied hands pawing on her green dress. But, Ariel didn't care about her looks and looked down at the dying soldier.

"It's all right," she whispered, stroking the soldier's face. "You'll be safe now."

Ariel watched helplessly as the soldier quietly died with his eyes fixated on her. With the soldier dead, more and more soldiers came in to be treated and realizing that she can hide anymore, Ariel grabbed a rifle and charged into the battle.

"Your highness, stop!" shouted a soldier and Melody heard what was going on and saw her mother running up to the fight. "Come back here!"

"Mom!" shouted Melody. "Stop! You're gonna be killed!"

Melody wanted to follow, but two soldiers held her back as she screamed and cried to be let go from their grasp. Vanessa heard what was happening and thinking that Ariel was being stupid, grabbed a cross out of her dress pocket and placed it around her neck, before going up to the battle.

Once on deck, Ariel soon found herself among the carnage that was going on around her. Trusting her instincts, she took the rifle and stabbed the French and Spanish soldiers, crying out with every soldier she killed.

"Look, it's the Queen!" cried a Danish soldier, before he was stabbed by a Polish lancer. This caught the attention of Villeneuve, who decided that he must have a trophy when all was said and done.

"Gravina," he said. "Take a small group of our best soldiers. I want the Queen of Denmark as a trophy. If anyone gets in your way, then kill them."

Acting on his equal's orders, the Spanish Admiral led a group of French and Spanish soldiers into several rowboats, determined to bring Ariel before Villeneuve and give her to him as his trophy. Back on the Danish ship, Ariel continued to struggle against her oppressers and soon, she came across her husband, who found himself cornered by several Polish lancers.

"Eric!" she cried and Eric turned and saw his wife, filling him with shock and disbelief.

"Ariel, what are you doing?" gasped Eric. But before he could say anymore, a French soldier struck him down with the butt of his rifle, knocking him to the ground.

Ariel screamed as Eric continued to be put at the mercy of the ruthless lancers. Seeing her husband about to be killed, Ariel leapt at the lancers, punching them in the face and knocking them out cold. Several French and Spanish then jumped in, pushing Ariel to the ground and ruthlessly kicking and punching the Queen of Denmark, unaware that she was to be captured and brought before Villeneuve. But the soldiers didn't understand and instead continued to beat on the defenseless Danish Queen.

Hearing his wife's cries, Eric tried to help Ariel, but was overpowered by several Spanish soldiers. Ariel continued to scream loudly as she struggled to get to her feet, getting dangerously close to the edge of the Danish ship. The soldiers then began to tear at her green dress as she rose to her feet, ripping several pieces of it off of her body, exposing her corset at the top and the remains of her petticoat, when large pieces of her green skirt was torn off. Feeling helpless and exposed to the elements Ariel then grabbed a dead soldier's rifle to defend herself, but it was no use.

"Rot in hell, your highness!" shouted the French soldier and he punched Ariel in the mouth, knocking her into the water as Eric watched in horror. "Long live France!"

"NO, ARIEL!" he screamed, before being beaten up once again by the hoard of soldiers.

Underneath the carnage, King Triton looked up in horror as he saw his daughter knocked unconscious and seemingly dead. All the merman soldiers wanted to get involved, but were still waiting to get the order from their sea king.

"Ariel!" gasped Triton, swimming up to get his daughter's unconscious body, cradling it in his arms. "Speak to me, my child!"

Thinking his daughter was dead, Triton's eyes filled with tears and his mind filled with rage as he knew that the time was right to attack. However, a thought came to his mind and grabbing his trident, fired it at Ariel's body in an attempt to revive her and in a blaze of light, Ariel was transformed back into her mermaid form as her tattered green dress fell off of her body.

Feeling that she was a mermaid again, Ariel awoke and smiled, knowing that she was seeing her father again.

"Daddy, is that you?" asked Ariel, weakly.

"Ariel, you're alive!" cried Triton, cradling his daughter. But, Ariel knew that time was of the essence and wanted to hold off on the reunions for the time being.

"Daddy, we have to attack now!" she cried, determined to get back up to help her husband and her people. "Will you join me?"

But, Triton didn't respond and raised his trident, preparing his soldiers for battle. The kingdom of Atlantica was about to join the fight at Trafalgar…


	19. John Rescues Melody

Chapter 19

"John Rescues Melody"

Following the near death of his youngest child, King Triton grabbed his spear and with a loud cry, swam up to the surface as fast as his strength would let him with his mermen army yelling war cries. Up on the surface, the column that Collingwood had broken was starting to falter, much to the disgust and disappointment of Villeneuve.

"Those pathetic idiots," he grunted. "They are losing ground against Nelson. If you want something done right, you do it yourself."

Villeneuve then stormed up to the helm and ordered the crew to charge straight at the chaos, much to their shock and surprise. He then turned his attention over to a random musketeer and beckoned him to come over.

"Boy," he said, taking some money out of his pocket. "How would you like to earn an extra part of your profit for this war, huh?"

"It would be an honor, sire," said the musketeer. "What do you want to be done?"

"Tell your mates that the first person to shoot and kill Nelson shall have a reward," replied Villeneuve, putting the money in the musketeer's pocket. "And a recognition from Napoleon himself."

The musketeer smiled and saluted his superior as he ran back to join his mates. Villeneuve was delighted that he was going to carry out a task without the help of his army, but it was going to take more than that to win this battle that he was quickly losing.

Back on the Danish royal ship, Vanessa could no longer stay in hiding and decided that the time was right to rescue Victor.

"What are you doing, Vanessa?" cried Melody, as Vanessa rose to her feet.

"I can't stand it any longer, Melody," replied Vanessa. "I'm going to save the man I am going to marry."

Melody got up and tried to pull Vanessa back. Melody was still shocked that her mother had gone into the fight and was not aware that she had been rescued by Triton. Losing her grip on Vanessa, Melody fell on her face as the rescued bride raced onto the deck. But, no sooner after she had come on deck did a group of French and Spanish soldiers somehow found their way below deck, searching for British or Danish soldiers. Several soldiers ran out and opened fire on the group of invaders, only to be shot at point blank range.

"Men! To your posts!" shouted a Danish soldier as the nurses and doctors grabbed anything to defend the hospital room from the incoming enemy soldiers.

Fearing the worst, Melody panicked and got up, running out of the room towards any place where she could hide. Unfortunately, it caught the attention of the incoming soldiers who saw the princess of Denmark running for her life.

"Get the Princess!" cried a soldier and several soldiers gave chase on Melody.

Melody's screams were somehow heard by John, who had joined a group of soldiers to aide in defending the Royal Danish ship. Trusting his instincts, John raced down below deck and began searching the ship for Melody.

"Melody! Melody!" he shouted, looking over to the hospital room where the doctors, nurses and soldiers struggled to defend themselves. Getting into a combat position, John fired at an unsuspecting Spanish soldier and diverted the attention of the invaders to him. John fired several more shots at them, managing to kill several before getting to his feet and swinging his rifle at the soldiers, knocking them to the ground.

With the invading soldiers out of commission, John turned his attention to finding Melody. Calling out to the soldiers, John managed to get several uninjured soldiers to help him find Melody, who had managed to barricade herself in her quarters, as the soldiers banged on the doors, trying to get inside.

"Open the door!" one soldier screamed in a Spanish accent. Melody struggled to hold the door against her attackers, but it was no use and the door gave way and the soldiers barged into her bedroom, pushing Melody onto the bed as she struggled against her attackers.

The soldiers then slapped her repeatedly across the face and pulled at her long black hair, their hands grabbing at her yellow dress, causing it to rip loudly. Melody tried desperately to scream for help, but a soldier placed his hand on her face while he tried to stick his hand to her private areas, while hiking up her skirt and pulling down on her bloomers as well as ripping her petticoat off.

"Better keep your mouth shut if you want to see your mother and father again!" snapped one soldier undoing his britches as Melody started to cry, before being met with another slap across the face.

But, just before the soldiers began to revel in their trophy, a loud gunshot was heard as John and the Danish soldiers barged into the room, stabbing and shooting Melody's attackers. John then took notice of the soldier with his britches down and struck him with his bayonet in the rear end, causing blood to spew out. John then slashed the man across his face with the bayonet, knocking him to the ground, before aiming his rifle and shooting the soldier several times in the heart and private areas.

"Are you all right?" asked John to a shaken up Melody, pulling her to his arms and hugging her briefly. "Did they hurt you?"

"I don't know," whimpered Melody, tears streaming down her face. John knew that reinforcements would be coming and decided that they had to get out. "They attacked me and…"

"It doesn't matter now," said John, pulling Melody to her feet. "We need to get out of here now."

Grabbing Melody by the hand, the young son of Admiral Nelson pulled the Princess of Denmark through the halls and over the bodies of the dead enemy soldiers that laid either dead or dying outside of the hospital.

As they were rushing onto the deck, more French and Spanish soldiers came to the defense of their comrades, their soldiers ready to fight. But, just as they were about to fight, a large blast of light came from under the water and struck the lead ship, destroying it completely and killing or injuring the soldiers on board. The French and Spanish soldiers were in awe as they looked up at the being that was looking down on them with angry eyes.

"Mon dieu!" cried a French soldier. "It's King Triton! Fall back!"

But it was too late, they couldn't fall back and Triton fired his trident at the ships, crippling them from fighting.

Atlantica had now joined the Battle of Trafalgar…


	20. Triton Joins the Fight

Chapter 20

"Triton Joins the Fight"

With a look of determination on his face, King Triton ordered his warriors to engage a ship and destroy it. The flashes of light bouncing off of his gold armor made many of the soldiers tremble in fear, only to be snapped into battle mode by their officers. Triton's presence had inspired many of the British soldiers to keep on fighting. At one point, three British ships had engaged a Spanish ship, easily taking it down from the fight and capturing the ship.

"Don't let one ship remain standing!" shouted Triton, raising his trident into the air and firing blasts at the ships, while the soldiers tried to fight back. Ariel then swam back to the Danish Royal ship as she saw the ship suddenly bursting into flames.

"NO!" she screamed and swam as fast as she could towards the burning ship. "ERIC! MELODY!"

Back on the Bucentaure, Villeneuve was now getting closer to the action and suddenly saw Ariel swimming, thinking that it was a regular mermaid. But then he took a closer look and saw that it was the Queen of Denmark.

"So, you decided to become a mermaid to escape my wrath, your highness," he thought, loading his pistol with bullets. "Then you shall die a mermaid!"

He pointed his pistol at Ariel and it was at that moment that Vanessa had come onboard and seeing what Villeneuve was about to do, immediately jumped onto the deck and pushed him to the ground.

"Who dares attack me?" shouted Villeneuve, who then saw Vanessa looking down at him. But, Villeneuve had no fear in his body and was more than willing to deal with this intruder. Seeing that it was a woman, he snickered evilly and pointed his pistol at her.

"Where is my fiancé?" she shouted loudly. "Where is he?"

"You want to know where your fiancé is?" said Villeneuve, mockingly, his pistol pointed at Vanessa's chest. "Well, he's dead and gone. I killed him and all your captive family and friends the moment they boarded the ship."

But, Vanessa refused to believe it, for she knew that Villeneuve was lying. She knew that Victor and the others were alive, because in her mind, God told her so.

"I don't believe you," she said. "I know he's alive. God told me himself."

"You lie," snapped Villeneuve. "God is not on your side, woman. He's on mine."

He then fired his pistol into the air to show Vanessa that he meant business, but Vanessa didn't budge. Feeling impatience, Villeneuve charged towards Vanessa as the young bride took to her feet, with Villeneuve firing his pistol at her feet. Vanessa then grabbed a soldier's rifle and swung it at Villeneuve, knocking the pistol out of his hands. Still grasping his hand, Villeneuve reach down and pulled a dagger out of his boot, determined to kill Vanessa. But, it was at that moment that Victor had managed to distract a French soldier and get the keys to their cell.

"Long live Denmark!" Victor cried, as he ran up to where Villeneuve had managed to corner Vanessa. Seeing his future bride in danger, Victor ran up to Villeneuve and pushed him away from Vanessa.

"I told you that you were lying!" cried Vanessa as Victor ran to her side.

"So, you managed to escape," snarled Villeneuve, grabbing his dagger off the ground. "Now, you and your bride shall die and I will hang your bodies over the streets of Paris for all to see!"

Victor was not going to let this happen to him and his new bride and before he could act, he suddenly saw the HMS Victory coming over towards the Bucentaure with their guns drawn. With one blast from the Victory, the Bucentaure was attacked and with the tossing of cables, the British and Scottish soldiers came off and onto the French ship.

"Defend the ship!" cried Villeneuve as a platoon led by Gravina came up to defend Villeneuve from the oncoming British and Scottish soldiers. However, as valiant as they were, the French and Spanish soldiers were no match and Villeneuve was suddenly starring down at the pistol being held by Nelson, who stared down at the French Admiral with a look of anger on his face.

"So, here you are," said Nelson, quietly. "I find you on the ground of your ship, cowering like a coward. Why don't you get to your feet and show me that you have no fear?"

Villeneuve got to his feet and it seemed like he was going to surrender, but just then, the musketeer that Villeneuve had paid to kill Nelson was in position and ready to open fire when the time was right.

"I just might surrender, Nelson," said Villeneuve, feigning innocence. "I have admired and respected you for who you are, despite all that is between our kingdoms."

"If you wanted to respect me," replied Nelson, his gun still pointed at Villeneuve. "Then why did you attack that wedding ship? I speak for the two people that are behind you."

Villeneuve turned and looked around to see Victor and Vanessa, embracing each other and at that moment, Nelson punched Villeneuve in the back, knocking him to the ground. Realizing that now things were personal, Villeneuve got to his feet and reached for his sword, while Nelson reached for his own. The two admirals then began to swordfight with one another, each determined to kill the other if it was the last thing they did.

Meanwhile, Ariel had managed to get to the Wedding ship and seeing her daughter and John trying to flee, Ariel called out to them.

"Melody!" she shouted. "Jump into the water and I will take you to safety!"

"Mom, is that you?" cried Melody, shocked that her mother was alive. "You're alive?"

"Yes," replied Ariel. "Jump in and I will bring you to safety!"

Melody was hesitant to do so, but she had no other choice. Before jumping in, she pulled John close and kissed him passionately, much to her mother's shock. Closing her eyes and doing a sign of the cross, Melody jumped into her mother's arms and took her under the ocean to safety, while John was quickly forced to refocus on the battle.

Soon, the battle of Trafalgar had reached its climax…


	21. Nelson vs Villeneuve

Chapter 21

"Nelson vs. Villeneuve"

Following her terrifying ordeal, Melody was carried by Ariel into the sea where she would be safe from the evils that had infected the ocean. Seeing his granddaughter brought to safety, Triton went under the water to turn Melody into a mermaid, removing the torn dress from her body. Once turned into a mermaid, Melody was able to breathe normally like if she was on land.

"Thanks, mom," cried Melody, hugging Ariel tightly. "They tried to…"

"I know what they tried to do to you, sweetie," interrupted Ariel. "It doesn't matter now, we are safe now, you and I."

"What about dad?" asked Melody. "We've got to help him, mom."

Ariel was also desperate to help Eric, but she didn't know what to do. Triton knew that his daughter and granddaughter were out of harm's way, so he decided that it was best if they stayed underwater while the battle went on.

"Ariel, you and Melody stay here where its safe," he ordered, his trident once again powering up. "The time has come for Atlantica to unleash its wrath on the humans that killed your mother."

Triton leapt up and with a soft sounding goodbye from the two most important merpeople in his life, charged back up into battle with his trident firing at several French and Spanish ships, causing the crew of both ships to jump into the seas below. By this point, several ships had already been disabled from battle, mostly from French and Spanish sides.

Meanwhile, Eric and his men had managed to overpower some of the French and Spanish soldiers and were gaining the upper hand as the flames continued to burn around them.

"Sire, get down!" shouted a Danish soldier and managed to get Eric down just to only get hit by a bullet that was meant for Eric to take. Seeing the dead man, Eric got up and sighing heavily, got back to fighting the enemy soldiers.

"We've got them pinned in!" cried a British soldier, who had taken several French soldiers prisoner. "What shall we do with them, your highness?"

"Arrest them in my name," replied Eric, pointing his sword at a Frenchman's throat. "Arrest anyone on the enemy's side who is alive and unhurt."

Watching the Danish soldiers take the prisoners away, Eric had no idea that Admiral Gravina was sneaking up behind him with a pistol aimed at his back. John, who had come up onto the deck, saw what was happening and tried to get Eric's attention.

"King Eric!" he shouted. "Look out behind you!"

Reacting fast, Eric got down as the vengeful Spanish admiral fired his gun at Eric, grazing the king of Denmark in the shoulder. Wincing in pain, Eric tried to fight against Gravina, but his shoulder was causing him pain. Knowing that Melody was on his mind, John jumped into action, tackling Gravina to the ground and the two warriors fought, throwing punches at each other.

"You are strong, young man," chuckled Gravina, as he pinned John down to the ground. "Just like your father, but I am stronger. Bow to me!"

"Never, you blaggard!" cried John, kneeing Gravina in the family jewels as he moaned and groaned in pain, giving John the advantage. Growling like a wounded bear, Gravina grabbed John's leg and pulled him to the ground.

"You'll pay for that, you bastard!" he snarled as John continued to be pulled and pulled ever more closer, towards certain death at the hands of the cruel Spaniard. Still clutching his shoulder, Eric grabbed Gravina's pistol and fired a bullet into the Spanish Admiral's shoulder, causing him to scream loudly in pain and go onto his back.

"Your highness, I surrender!" begged Gravina, who was now begging for his life. "Please, don't kill me!"

"If you want to live, you will surrender!" cried Eric, his mind filled with rage and concern for his wife and daughter. Suddenly, there was a loud noise and Gravina looked back to see several mermen soldiers destroy a French ship while two British ships disabled several more Spanish ships. "Take him away."

Eric watched as several Danish and British soldiers lifted the wounded Admiral to his feet and forced him to walk away.

Meanwhile, Nelson and Villeneuve continued their duel amidst the fierce gunfire and sword clanging that was going on aboard the Bucantane. At this point, Nelson was gaining the upper hand, however, he had no idea of the musketeer that was preparing to take the shot at him.

"Give up?" asked Nelson, pushing his sword against Villeneuve's. "You should, Admiral. The king will go easy on you if you just surrender to me now."

"Never!" cried Villeneuve and he pulled his sword from under Nelson's and attempted to slash Nelson's face, but he quickly backed away. "I will never surrender to you, Nelson! Long live Napoleon!"

And he punched Nelson in the face, knocking him to the ground and causing Vanessa to scream loudly and cower into Victor's arms.

"Get up, Admiral! Get up!" shouted Vanessa, as Nelson struggled to his feet. Once he was on his feet, Nelson regained his composure and being the true warrior that his was, attempted to fight and defeat his enemy.

At that moment, the musketeer hiding behind the column loaded his rifle and aimed it at Nelson's back, waiting for the moment when Nelson was weakened. But, that was not the case. In fact, Nelson caught a moment where Villeneuve was off guard and punched the French admiral in the nose. Nelson then placed his sword at Villeneuve's throat and ordered him to surrender. Knowing that he still had a trump card in the form of the musketeer, Villeneuve feigned his surrender.

"Very well, Nelson," said Villeneuve as the point of the sword touched at his throat. "I should know that the English navy is the mightiest of the seas. I shall surrender, but please spare me."

Nelson smiled as Villeneuve got to his feet, the sword still at his throat. However, just as Nelson was about to order Villeneuve to march as his captive, a loud gunshot rang out from the musketeer's rifle and Nelson yelled in pain while Vanessa screamed as the bullet went into his back. Seeing his rival was shot, Villeneuve smiled as Nelson struggled to stay on his feet.

"Did you think I was going to surrender to you that easily?" laughed Villeneuve, who now pointed his sword at Nelson's throat. "You are so mistaken, Nelson! Long live Napoleon and long live France!"

But, just as Villeneuve was about to finish off Nelson, a vengeful Victor charged at Villeneuve and pushed him to the ground, punching and slapping him across the face. It was only at this moment did Villeneuve realize that he was about to be defeated.

"Wrong!" snarled Victor, pulling on the scruff of Villeneuve's tunic. "You will never defeat us, Villeneuve! Hear this: God save the English and the Danish!"

At that moment, several British and Danish soldiers tended to the mortally injured Nelson and soon, the Battle of Trafalgar would lose its leader…


	22. Death of Admiral Nelson

Chapter 22

"Death of Admiral Nelson"

By mid-afternoon, the English and Danish fleets had emerged victorious and those on the enemy side that had survived were either captured or surrendered. But, at the same time, over 2,000 brave warriors on the English/Danish side were killed while 7,000 had been killed on the French/Spanish side. The Atlantican forces also had casualties of their own, with only ten of the one hundred of the merman soldiers slain.

The Danish royal ship was beyond repair as a result of the damaged it had sustained due to the fires and thus, Eric and those that had survived the onslaught were transferred onto the HMS Victory along with other British ships that had survived. Once he was aboard, Eric was being tended to his wounds when he realized that Ariel and Melody were missing, thinking that they had been killed in the carnage and chaos that was going on aboard

"Have any of you seen my wife and daughter?" he cried, his voice filled with worry. "Where are they?"

"Sire, they are fine," replied a nurse. "King Triton had them stay underwater for their own protection."

At that moment, Ariel and Melody were turned back into humans and were brought aboard the HMS Victory, along with Vanessa, Victor and the captured people from the wedding ship. Worried for Eric, Ariel and Melody were led into the room where the wounded were being tended to and they were reunited with Eric.

"Be careful," groaned Eric, as he was embraced by Ariel and Melody. "My shoulder is really hurting me right now."

"Sorry," replied Ariel, pulling away from him. "We are just happy to see you alive, that's all."

Eric smiled at this, knowing how caring Ariel was for his well-being. But, while they were all glad to see each other again, the attention was focused on Admiral Nelson, who was dying as a result of his gunshot wound during his fight with Villeneuve.

"Hang on, father!" cried John, who had been told of his father's grave injury after he had boarded. "By the grace of God, please hang on!"

Nelson coughed and chuckled as he grabbed John's hand. For he knew that John had done what he had set out to do and that was to prove himself to a woman that he was capable of fighting for the British empire.

"Why should I hang on?" asked Nelson. "I've done my job, John. If I do hang on, it will be because I want to suffer. But, we have won. There is no need for suffering."

John could not believe what he was hearing and wanted to persuade his father to fight his grave injury. However, Vanessa could see that Nelson's time to go up to heaven was at hand and had to tell John that his father's mind was made up.

"He's made his choice, John," she said, sadly. "I'm afraid its only a matter of time."

John couldn't believe what he was hearing and tears began forming at the corners of his eyes. He couldn't believe that this was the time where he would have to say goodbye to the man who was a great inspiration to his life.

"Father, if this is the time where I have to say my farewells," cried John, clutching his father's hand tighter than ever. "Then, I want you to know that I am sorry for what I did to Princess Melody."

"No," replied Nelson, much to John's shock and surprise. "Forgive me, for not believing that you were only trying to confess your love for her. I give you my blessings for you to start a courtship with her."

John smiled as he sobbed at into his father's hand, happy that he was going to start a life with the young woman that he had fallen in love. At that moment, Ariel and Melody came into the already crowded bedroom and John hugged Melody tightly, releasing all of his emotions at that moment.

"Ah, Queen Ariel," remarked Nelson, coughing up some blood into a dish. "I see that you are alive along with Melody."

"We've heard everything that has happened," she said. "My husband and my father send their wishes to you along with myself and my daughter."

"Thank you, your majesty," replied Nelson, weakly. At that moment, he began to feel his strength leave him and his Chaplin, Alexander Scott, took out his bible and began to recite the 23rd psalm as the whole room fell silent. "Fan, Fan…Rub, Rub….Drink, Drink."

As the stewards tried to honor Nelson's requests, the sounds of the 23rd psalm continued to be heard:

 _The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want._

 _He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters._

 _He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake._

 _Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me._

 _Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over._

 _Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever._

With one final breath, Nelson looked up at the ceiling and saw what appeared to be a bright light coming towards him and in that light was a man dressed in white and had a brown beard with long hair. Knowing who it was, Nelson smiled warmly.

"Thank God I have done my duty," he said and closed his eyes, quietly passing away. As Nelson died, many in the room starting crying heavily while others just sat in silence, fully aware of what had happened. After Nelson had passed away, the national anthem of the British Empire was sung:

 _God save our gracious king_

 _Long live our noble king_

 _God save the king_

 _Send him victorious_

 _Happy and glorious_

 _Long to reign over us_

 _God save the king_

 _O Lord, our God arise_

 _Scatter his enemies_

 _And make them fall_

 _Confound their politics_

 _Frustrate their knavish tricks_

 _On Thee our hopes we fix_

 _God save the king_

 _Thy choicest gifts in store_

 _On him be pleased to pour_

 _Long may he reign_

 _May he defend our laws_

 _And ever give us cause_

 _To sing with heart and voice_

 _God save the king_

 _Not in this land alone_

 _But be God's mercies known_

 _From shore to shore_

 _Lord make the nations see_

 _That men should brothers be_

 _And form one family_

 _The wide world o'er_

 _From every latent foe_

 _From the assassins blow_

 _God save the king_

 _O'er him Thine arm extend_

 _For Britain's sake defend_

 _Our father, prince and friend_

 _God save the king_


	23. End of the Battle

Chapter 23

"End of the Battle"

In the hours following Admiral Nelson's death, many of the British and Danish ships had managed to either disable or destroy much of the Spanish and French fleets. Those that survived were taken prisoner and would spend the rest of their days chained in the brigs of the British and Danish ships. Those who had attacked Eric and his family were placed in the brigs of the Danish ships as well as those who had aided in the attack on the Wedding ship.

"Many have surrendered already, Sir Percy," said a British naval officer as Lord Nelson's right hand man overlooked the destruction. "Shall we account for the dead and wounded?"

"Yes, do so at once," he ordered and the officer saluted him before departing to take to his duties.

After being checked out, Eric joined Sir Percy out on deck with a sling around his wounded shoulder. Yes, Eric was wounded, but he was lucky to be alive along with his family.

"Your highness, how are you feeling?" asked Sir Percy, saluting him.

"I'm doing fine, Sir Percy," replied Eric, who was still in a sense of pain. "It's unfortunate about Admiral Nelson."

"Aye, it is," remarked Sir Percy, sighing heavily. "Those blasted Frenchmen, the murdering scum that they are. I don't know who was responsible, but when I find him…"

Before Sir Percy could say another word, Eric placed his hand on Sir Percy and nodded that it wasn't worth it.

"We've spilt enough blood as it is," said Eric. "Now is the time to bury the dead either on land or into the sea. Let us worry about finding who was responsible for Admiral Nelson's death later."

Sir Percy wanted to protest, but after a moment, he sighed at the fact that Eric was right. He knew very well that he had to find the one responsible for killing Nelson, but that would have to come later.

Meanwhile, Ariel and Melody had changed into new dresses since the ones they wore during the battle were ruined. They stood by the body of Admiral Nelson, who was now covered in a bed sheet as a coffin was placed into the room.

"What is going to happen to him now, mother?" asked Melody as two soldiers came to lift Admiral Nelson's body into the coffin.

"He will most likely be buried in England," replied Ariel, somberly. "In the country he called home, I guess."

Melody then took notice of John, standing out of the room overlooking the ocean. Melody couldn't help but feel sorry for the man that had fallen in love with her and wanted to console him.

"Go on, Melody," whispered Ariel. "He needs you."

Melody was shocked to hear this, but she didn't think her mother knew about John undressing her before the battle. At her mother's encouragement, Melody stepped out onto the deck and joined John as he looked down at dead bodies floating in the ocean.

"You know, I can't help but wonder," sighed John. "Could my father have been preparing for this moment?"

"I know its difficult," said Melody, clutching John's hand. "But, it's going to take time for all this to heal. If there is anything I can do to help you…"

"You can help me in any way you want," interrupted John, looking over at Melody. "My father had wanted me to take the next step for a number of years. I know very well that I will become an admiral at some point of his majesty's navy."

Melody was shocked at hearing this, for as far as she was concerned, John was still young to be an admiral.

"But, aren't you very young?" she said, her voice filled with surprise.

"It doesn't matter," replied John. "Most of the young men in England are already mates and officers. I'm only 17 years old, Melody. I joined the navy at 13 and was placed under the command of my father. He told me that when his time was done, mine would only be just beginning."

John and Melody then saw a group of British ships preparing to set sail and the sound of a bosom's whistle was heard.

"Where are they going?" wondered Melody.

"It seems that they are going after the rest of the French fleet," said John. "Everyone is determined to make the French bow to the British on the seas. Besides, all of the men are determined to find the exact person responsible for killing my father."

"What about the Spanish?" asked Melody.

"They are retreating," replied John. "Apparently, the king of Spain will no longer have any more of his ships be put at our mercy. From now on, he says that the French are on their own."

A thought came through Melody's mind at that moment that showed that they were not done in this fight. She knew very well that the Danish were not done yet in aiding the British, however, Eric was thinking otherwise.

"I cannot risk anymore of my ships being destroyed," he said that night. "We leave for home in the morning."

"We need you, King Eric," pleaded Sir Percy. "We'll do anything to keep you by our side. You will be rewarded."

"I'm sorry, Sir Percy," sighed Eric. "If we stay, we will be at an even greater risk. I almost lost my wife and daughter in this battle. Why should I sacrifice my fleet for you once more?"

"Because as long as the French remain on the seas," replied Sir Percy. "Denmark will still be a continuous target for these bastards. Would you risk that?"

Eric considered the matter and thought of the consequences that would happen to his country. There was a very good reason to why he was doing what he did and that it was to protect his people. The last thing that could be a threat was his subjects and the bombing that occurred in his castle had made him rethink what he just said.

Suddenly, before he could respond, Eric saw a flash of gold coming from under the water and the Danish king could see that it was coming from Triton.

"I think Triton wants to say something to us," said Eric.


	24. Not the End, Only the Beginning

Chapter 24

"Not the End, Only the Beginning"

As Eric contemplated whether to head back to Denmark, King Triton emerged out of the sea with his trident glowing. It seemed that he was even more determined than ever to find the ship that killed his wife and Ariel's mother.

"What's wrong, daddy?" asked Ariel walking over to Eric. "You still seem troubled."

"That's because I still haven't found the ship that killed your mother," replied Triton, solemnly. "I searched everywhere during the battle and it was nowhere to be found."

Ariel felt sorry for her father and understood his pain. She wanted nothing more than to support her father any way she could, but it seemed like there was going to be no easy way out of this. She had already been put at risk thanks to the French and Spanish and her instincts were telling her to leave, but her father was the most important person in her life next to Eric and Melody.

"Daddy, why don't you just let it go?" suggested Ariel. "Mother wouldn't approve of you acting like this."

This struck a chord with Triton, who was not someone that could be reasoned with easily. Just letting it go was not something that he wanted to do. It would be a disgrace to him and to Athena's memory if her killer was not found and destroyed.

"I can't let it go, Ariel," sighed Triton. "All my life, I have tried to search for your mother's killer and I will find it if it's the last thing that I do."

"If you really want to find the ship," said Eric, although he thought it was against his better judgment. "Then, we will stand by your side, Triton, no matter how long it takes."

Ariel was shocked by this and wanted to protest, but if there was one thing she learned, it was never to question her father. Nevertheless, the British navy officers knew that what happened at Trafalgar was only the beginning.

"Indeed," said Sir Percy. "This was only the first victory we have had in this fight. They will regroup and we have to stop them from doing it."

All of the men in the room nodded in agreement, including John and Victor, much to the shock of Melody and Vanessa.

"But Victor," cried Vanessa, trying to reason with her soon-to-be husband. "We are to be married."

"Not until the barbarians who ruined our wedding are completely at our mercy," replied Victor. "I will continue to join the hunt until I die."

"But, we will need a leader," suggested John, grabbing a rapier that once belonged to his father. "And that leader is me."

All the people in the room including Triton looked down at John, who was determined to pick up where his father left off. At that moment, Triton raised his trident into the air once more in the direction of where the French fleet had retreated.

Meanwhile, the French fleet had headed north towards the northern coast of Spain towards a place where they thought that the English and Danish fleets would never find them.

"We will stay here until we regroup," said a French naval officer. "We lost a lot of our best warriors France has ever had."

"Indeed," said the musketeer that had shot at Nelson. "Our leader has been captured and that there is matter of someone to take his place."

"But, what if we rescue him?" suggested the officer. "There is a chance we could still rescue Villeneuve."

The musketeer looked down at the money he had been given by Villeneuve before the battle at Trafalgar. He knew that the he had done what he had set out to do and felt that the time was right to take what once belonged to Villeneuve.

"No, he is most likely to be executed for his actions," replied the musketeer. "As of now, I will lead this navy in rescuing our captured comrades. You shall address me as Admiral Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley and together, we shall fight the English and Danish again. This time, we shall be victorious."

So the new minted Admiral le Pelley looked back on his fleet and drew his sword, determined to rescue all those who had been captured. The money that Villeneuve had given to him had given him power that even he didn't train or even dream of becoming admiral. It seemed to this new admiral, that killing Nelson made him all powerful and that everyone would have to bow to him as the supreme monarch of the French Fleet when in reality, he wasn't.

However, as both sides went to bed that night, the thought of the next encounter was still fresh on everyone's mind, especially Ariel and Eric, who were forced to stay on the HMS Victory along with Melody, since the Danish royal ship was damaged beyond repair.

"Eric, do you think we are doing the right thing?" wondered Ariel as she looked out at the clear blue night. "I mean, going after the French fleet or what's left of it?"

"You heard everyone in the room tonight, Ariel," said Eric, getting into bed. "We all agreed to help your father find and destroy the ship that killed your mother."

"I sometimes wonder if it is worth it," sighed Ariel, looking back towards Eric. "Do you think my mother would want to see blood being shed because of what happened when I was younger? This is isn't about glory and power, this is revenge, something that my father had taught me and my sisters to never embrace."

Eric stayed silent as he decided to focus on the task at hand, despite the injuries he had sustained. Ariel continued to look at the sky and think of why things had come to what they did. After all, she and her daughter had been attacked and Melody was violated of her personal space. She wanted to just accept what happened and move on, not wanting to see any more violence inflicted on her family and her country.

"Oh, mother," she whispered, bending down and praying for the first time in her life. "If you can hear me, I want you to think of a way, any way possible, to stop the impending horror that we have gotten ourselves into. I know you don't want to see this, so I ask you with all my might, to tell this God in heaven, to stop this relentless crusade that daddy is fighting. Amen."

Ariel had made her prayer, but only time would tell if it would be answered as another looming battle would take place…in Cape Ortegal.

TO BE CONTINUED…MERMAIDS OF ORTEGAL: SEPTEMBER 2015


End file.
